Industrial control system architecture for real-time simulation and process control

ABSTRACT

A Multi-Purpose Dynamic Simulation and run-time Control platform includes a virtual process environment coupled to a physical process environment, where components/nodes of the virtual and physical process environments cooperate to dynamically perform run-time process control of an industrial process plant and/or simulations thereof. Virtual components may include virtual run-time nodes and/or simulated nodes. The MPDSC includes an I/O Switch which delivers I/O data between virtual and/or physical nodes, e.g., by using publish/subscribe mechanisms, thereby virtualizing physical I/O process data delivery. Nodes serviced by the I/O Switch may include respective component behavior modules that are unaware as to whether or not they are being utilized on a virtual or physical node. Simulations may be performed in real-time and even in conjunction with run-time operations of the plant, and/or simulations may be manipulated as desired (speed, values, administration, etc.). The platform simultaneously supports simulation and run-time operations and interactions/intersections therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/859,508, filed on Jun. 10, 2019 and entitled “Industrial Control System Architecture for Real-Time Simulation and Control,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent application relates generally to industrial and process control systems and, more particularly, to an industrial control system that provides simulation of process control and/or run-time actual process control using virtualized components.

BACKGROUND

Process or industrial control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleum or other industrial process plants to produce physical products from materials, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses, or via a wireless communication link or network. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level and flow rate sensors), are located within the process environment and generally perform physical or process control functions such as opening or closing valves, measuring process parameters, etc., to control one or more processes executing within the process plant or system. Smart field devices, such as the field devices conforming to the well-known FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol may also perform control calculations, alarming functions, and other control functions commonly implemented within the controller. The process controllers, which may be centrally located but which may also be located within the plant environment in a distributed manner, receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and/or other information pertaining to the field devices and execute a controller application that runs, for example, different control modules that make process control decisions, generate control signals based on the received information and coordinate with the control modules or blocks being performed in the field devices, such as HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. The control modules in the controller send the control signals over the communication lines or links to the field devices to thereby control the operation of at least a portion of the process plant or system.

Information from the field devices and the controller is usually made available from the controllers over a data highway to one or more other hardware devices, such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or other centralized administrative computing devices that are typically placed in control rooms or other locations away from the harsher plant environment. Each of these hardware devices typically is centralized across the process plant or across a portion of the process plant. These hardware devices execute applications that may, for example, enable an engineer to configure portions of the process or an operator to perform functions with respect to controlling a process and/or operating the process plant, such as changing settings of the process control routine, modifying the operation of the control modules within the controllers or the field devices, viewing the current state of the process, viewing alarms generated by field devices and controllers, simulating the operation of the process for the purpose of training personnel or testing the process control software, keeping and updating a configuration database, etc. The data highway utilized by the hardware devices, controllers and field devices may include a wired communication path, a wireless communication path, or a combination of wired and wireless communication paths.

As an example, the DeltaV™ control system, sold by Emerson Process Management, includes multiple applications stored within and executed by different devices located at diverse places within a process plant. A configuration application, which resides in one or more workstations or computing devices, enables users to create or change process control modules and to download these process control modules via a data highway to dedicated distributed controllers. Typically, these control modules are made up of communicatively interconnected function blocks, which are objects in an object-oriented programming protocol that perform functions within the control scheme based on inputs thereto and that provide outputs to other function blocks within the control scheme. The configuration application may also allow a configuration designer to create or change operator interfaces that are used by a viewing application to display data to an operator and to enable the operator to change settings, such as set points, within the process control routines. Each dedicated controller and, in some cases, one or more field devices, stores and executes a respective controller application that runs the control modules assigned and downloaded thereto to implement actual process control functionality. The viewing applications, which may be executed on one or more operator workstations (or on one or more remote computing devices in communicative connection with the operator workstations and the data highway), receive data from the controller application via the data highway and display this data to process control system designers, operators, or users using the user interfaces, and may provide any of a number of different views, such as an operator's view, an engineer's view, a technician's view, etc. A data historian application is typically stored in and executed by a data historian device that collects and stores some or all of the data provided across the data highway while a configuration database application may run in a still further computer attached to the data highway to store the current process control routine configuration and data associated therewith. Alternatively, the configuration database may be located in the same workstation as the configuration application.

The architecture of currently known process control plants and process control systems is strongly influenced by limited controller and device memory, communications bandwidth, and controller and device processor capability. For example, in currently known process control system architectures, the use of dynamic and static non-volatile memory in the controller is usually minimized or, at the least, managed carefully. As a result, during system configuration (e.g., a priori), a user or configuration engineer typically must choose which data in the controller is to be archived or saved, the frequency at which it will be saved, and whether or not compression is used, and the controller is accordingly configured with this limited set of data rules. Consequently, data which could be useful in troubleshooting and process analysis is often not archived, and if it is collected, the useful information may have been lost due to data compression.

Additionally, to minimize controller memory usage in currently known process control systems, selected data that is to be archived or saved (as indicated by the configuration of the controller) is reported to the workstation or computing device for storage at an appropriate data historian or data silo. The current techniques used to report the data poorly utilizes communication resources and induces excessive controller loading. Additionally, due to the time delays in communication and sampling at the historian or silo, the data collection and time stamping is often out of sync with the actual process.

Similarly, in batch process control systems, to minimize controller memory usage, batch recipes and snapshots of controller configuration typically remain stored at a centralized administrative computing device or location (e.g., at a data silo or historian), and are only transferred to a controller when needed. Such a strategy introduces significant burst loads in the controller and in communications between the workstation or centralized administrative computing device and the controller.

Further, the current architecture of industrial control systems, such as process control systems, is largely hardware driven in that various functions, such as control functions, input/output (I/O) functions, user interface functions, etc. are performed in and are tied to specific pieces of hardware (e.g., user workstations or interface devices, process controllers, safety system controllers, dedicated I/O devices, marshalled I/O devices, field devices, safety logic solvers, etc.) and remain stored in the specific hardware at all times. For example, in current process control systems, interconnections between controllers and I/O devices (e.g., either individual I/O devices, or banks of marshalled I/O devices) are configured based on particular hardware, and consequently, physical I/O relationships are tightly bound, most commonly in a one-to-one manner, e.g., I/O device to controller, another I/O device to another controller, etc. This architectural design limits the resiliency, reliability, availability, responsiveness, and the elasticity of the control system, as these systems are difficult to change or reconfigure quickly, are tightly tied to proprietary hardware used to implement proprietary control software, require hardware redundancy on a device by device basis that can be expensive to implement, and are not easily scalable or able to be upgraded without adding additional hardware that needs to be configured in particular manners, for example, due to size limitations of individual devices such as physical process controllers, particular characteristics and capabilities of I/O devices, etc.

Some attempts at addressing these issues include virtualizing physical controllers; however, controller virtualization has been limited to off-line development and test systems, and has not been widely utilized, if at all, for run-time process control in physical plant and/or production environments. Moreover, both virtualized controllers and physical controllers remain subject to the limitations of physical I/O devices, such as performance, bandwidth, throughput, etc.

SUMMARY

A novel, multi-purpose hardware/software architecture or platform for dynamic simulation and/or run-time production process control that enables an industrial or process control system of an industrial process plant to be more resilient, responsive, and elastic as compared to known industrial or process control systems. More particularly, this novel architecture or platform, to a large extent, decouples the hardware used in the control system from the software that governs the behavior of the hardware, making the system easier to scale, reconfigure, and change, as well as improving overall system reliability, availability, and performance. For ease of discussion, the novel Multi-Purpose Dynamic Simulation and run-time Control platform or architecture is referred to interchangeably herein by the “MPDSC,” “the MPDSC platform,” “the MPDSC system, or “the MPDSC architecture.”

Generally speaking, the MPDSC includes a virtual process environment coupled to a physical process environment, where components of the virtual and physical environments cooperate to perform dynamic simulation and/or run-time (e.g., actual or operational) production process control of the industrial process plant. For run-time process control, the MPDSC platform supports Process Control Systems (PCSs) which may include virtual components, physical components, and/or both virtual and physical components that cooperate to monitor and control batch and/or continuous industrial processes during run-time of the plant. In some arrangements, the MPDSC platform also supports Safety Instrumented Systems (SISs) which may have both virtual and physical components that cooperate to maintain safe operations and provide failsafe operations of the plant during run-time. Virtual nodes that perform run-time, operational process control and/or related run-time functions (e.g., in conjunction with one or more physical devices or components disposed in the physical environment of the process plant) are referred to herein as “virtual run-time nodes.”

The MPDSC platform may additionally or alternatively support a simulation environment or space which may be utilized for control and/or safety system and/or component testing, validation, verification, and/or check out, operator training, case studies, on-going process improvements, etc. For simulation purposes, the MPDSC platform provides virtual nodes that simulate one or more physical devices, modules, or components that are deployable within the physical process environment. Virtual nodes that simulate various devices, modules, and/or components that are deployable in the physical environment of the process plant are referred to herein as “simulated nodes.”

The simulation provided by the MPDSC platform is “dynamic,” as simulations of the process plant or portions thereof may execute in real-time, thereby mirroring the timing and other behaviors that (would) occur during run-time, and/or simulations may be manipulated to execute at a faster or slower pace than real-time execution, to use different values, initial conditions, intermediate conditions, etc. The simulation space provides various features such as, for example, save/restore capabilities for various simulated scenarios, editable initial and/or intermediate conditions for various scenarios, coordination with third-party simulators via various protocols, testing and checkout of operator display views, real-time simulation of one or more portions of the PCS, speed-up and/or slow-down of the simulation of the one or more portions of the PCS, simulations that include simulated components operating in conjunction with actual (e.g., non-simulated) virtual and/or physical components, change management and synchronization with plant configuration, etc. The MPDSC platform is able to simultaneously support both simulation and run-time operations, various interactions and intersections between simulation and run-time operations (e.g., testing of upgrades, patches, “what-if” scenarios, configuration changes, user input changes, and the like. Further, with the MPDSC platform, system redundancy, fault tolerance, switchovers, planned maintenance, etc. are able to be seamlessly and easily accomplished.

One of the key components of the MPDSC architecture is referred to herein as an “I/O Switch” or an “I/O Server,” which generally abstracts I/O of the process plant away from being specifically and directly associated with particular hardware, as well as performs other functions related to I/O for simulation and/or run-time process control. The I/O Switch or I/O Server is a node that, during run-time, delivers I/O data between virtual and/or physical nodes of the process plant. Each node (whether virtual or physical) is typically a component of the process plant that is identified within the MPDSC system by a unique name, tag, or identifier. For example, a node may be a physical or virtual controller, a field device, a safety information controller, a safety logic solver, an I/O card or device (e.g., a wireless I/O device, an Ethernet I/O device, a marshalled I/O cabinet or components thereof, etc.), an operator workstation, another type of user interface device, a tool (e.g., diagnostic tool, simulation tool, etc.), a gateway, a data storage device, or other type of component. Generally speaking, the I/O Switch operates as a data broker between virtual and/or physical nodes, where the I/O Switch delivers or switches I/O data (also referred to interchangeably herein as “process I/O data,” or “PIO data”) between source nodes (whether virtual or physical) and destination nodes (whether virtual or physical). In a sense, rather than tightly and/or specifically coupling physical I/O cards to different source and destination nodes to deliver process I/O, the I/O Switch virtualizes the physical delivery mechanisms of process I/O data between nodes of the MPDSC system, and loosens the bindings between hardware components that are utilized for the purposes of delivering I/O data. Moreover, the I/O Switch is configured to be able to deliver I/O data quickly enough (e.g., with sufficiently small delay) to support run-time, actual production process control and/or real-time simulation of production process control.

Generally speaking, virtual and physical nodes/components that are serviced by the I/O Switch or I/O Server include respective modules that govern the behavior of virtual and physical nodes or components. Such modules are referred to herein as “component behavior modules” or “CBMs,” examples of which include control modules in controllers, safety logic in safety logic solvers, and other types of modules that govern the behavior and operations of the components in which the modules are stored and executed, and at least in part by operating on I/O data. Within the MPDSC system, CBMs that operate on the process-related payload of the I/O data are agnostic or unaware of the I/O Switch and its role in delivering I/O data to/from the component behavior modules. That is, the CBMs are unaware of whether or not their respective I/O delivery mechanism to/from their host node is a physical I/O card or the I/O Switch.

As such, the I/O Switch may be viewed as a switching fabric, router, and/or delivery mechanism of I/O data that is transparent to Component Behavior Modules of the MPDSC system. To this end, the I/O Switch delivers I/O data between virtual and/or physical nodes via respective publish/subscribe layers of the nodes (also referred to interchangeably herein as a “Pub/Sub layer”) and a virtual communication network via which I/O payload or data is transferred between nodes. For example, a sending or publishing node may include a respective Pub/Sub layer that publishes, to the virtual communication network, data generated by the component behavior module of the sending node. The I/O Switch may deliver or switch the published data to nodes that are receivers of or subscribers to the data, and each subscriber node may recover the data via its respective Pub/Sub layer for consumption by its respective component behavior module. As such, the I/O Switch brokers data between publisher nodes and subscriber nodes on a demand basis, in accordance with the defined relationships of the nodes within the MPDSC system.

As utilized herein, the “physical environment” of the MPDSC platform or system refers to the production plant or environment in which physical, tangible components (e.g., field devices, tanks, valves, actuators, heaters, evaporators, sensors, etc.) are utilized to transform, via run-time controlled processes, physical materials into physical products. Accordingly, the “physical environment” is interchangeably referred to herein as the “plant environment” of the industrial process plant. As discussed above, the physical or plant environment includes a front-end portion in which physical or hardware components of the MPDSC system such as field devices, sensors, transmitters, switches, positioners, tanks, heaters, etc. are disposed and operate on physical materials to produce physical products. As such, the “front-end” portion of the physical environment is interchangeably referred to herein as the “field” or “site” portion of the physical environment of the process plant.

The physical or plant environment of the MPDSC system also includes a back-end portion in which physical or hardware components such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, and/or other centralized (or at least partly centralized) administrative computing devices execute applications to, for example, configure the process plant and/or its components, view and monitor run-time operations of the plant, respond to alerts or alarms during run-time operations of the plant, adjust parameters during run-time operations of the plant, generate reports, store and analyze data, and the like. The back-end portion of the physical environment of the MPDSC system may be located in areas that are protected from the harsher field environment, such as in an on-site, enclosed room and/or in locations that are off-site or remote from the field environment.

The virtual environment of the MPDSC system is implemented using physical or hardware computing devices that are particularly configured and interconnected to provide a platform that supports the virtualization of various physical process plant components, as is described in more detail in later sections of this disclosure. Generally speaking, the physical computing devices that provide and support the virtualization platform may be physically located on-site at the plant (e.g., in protected, enclosed areas of the field environment), may be physically located off-site, or may be physically and distributively located among various on-site and off-site locations. The physical computing devices that provide and support the virtualization platform may be interconnected via any number of physical data links and/or or communication/data networks. Generally speaking, the physical computing devices, data links, and communication/data networks form a computing platform on which various logical or virtual components of the MPDSC system reside, where the various logical or virtual components may be utilized for run-time process control in conjunction with components of the physical process environment, and/or for process simulation purposes.

The logical or virtual components residing in the virtual environment of the MPDSC system may operate to provide simulation of one or more actual or planned physical portions of the MPDSC system (e.g., in real-time, at faster speeds, and/or at slower speeds, if desired). In some implementations, the logical or virtual components residing in the virtual environment of the MPDSC system and the physical components residing in the physical environment of the MPDSC system may cooperatively operate to provide simulation and/or run-time, actual production process control. As such, in some embodiments, the physical and virtual environments of the MPDSC platform are communicatively connected via one or more communication links and/or networks, where the communication links and/or networks may include any number of wired links and/or networks, wireless links and/or networks, private links and/or networks, public links and/or networks. Embodiments of stand-alone, virtual real-time simulation and embodiments of cooperation between the logical/virtual and physical components of the industrial control system and communicative connections therebetween are described in more detail in later sections of this disclosure.

Further, the virtual and physical environments of the MPDSC platform utilize or share a common (e.g., the same) system configuration database, which is referred to herein as the “MPDSC system configuration database.” As such, via the MPDSC system configuration database, various virtual and physical components may be uniquely identified within the MPDSC platform across both virtual and physical environments, and intersections between simulation and run-time operations (e.g., testing, switchovers, etc.) are able to be seamlessly and easily accomplished.

In an embodiment, a system, such as a multi-purpose dynamic simulation and run-time industrial or process control (MPDSC) system, comprises a process control system that includes a field device, where the field device is disposed in a physical environment of an industrial process plant and performs a physical function. Additionally, the process control system includes an I/O switch communicatively disposed between the field device and a virtual node, where the virtual node is disposed in a virtual environment of the industrial process plant. The I/O switch is a subscriber to first data that is generated by the field device and that has been published, and the I/O switch is a publisher of second data indicative of the first data generated by the field device. The process control system further includes the virtual node, where the virtual node is a subscriber to the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch. The virtual node includes a component behavior module that operates on the second data corresponding to the field device to thereby generate a control signal to modify a behavior of another node of the process control system. The field device, the virtual node, and the another node operate in conjunction during run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control an industrial process, for example.

In an embodiment, a method of controlling a node of a process control system of an industrial process plant includes communicatively connecting a field device and a virtual node via an I/O switch disposed between the field device and the virtual node so that the field device, the I/O switch, and the virtual node operate in conjunction during run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control an industrial process. The field device is disposed in a physical environment of the industrial process plant and performs a physical function. The I/O switch is a subscriber to first data that is generated by the field device and that has been published, and the I/O switch is a publisher of second data indicative of the first data generated by the field device. The virtual node is disposed in a virtual environment of the industrial process plant, and the virtual node is a subscriber to the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch. During the run-time operations of the industrial process plant, the method includes receiving, by the virtual node, the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch; operating on, by utilizing a component behavior module of the virtual node, the second data, thereby generating a control signal based on the second data; and causing an indication of the control signal to be transmitted to another node of the process control system, thereby modifying a behavior of the another node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example multi-purpose dynamic simulation and run-time industrial or process control (MPDSC) system that provides dynamic simulation and/or run-time industrial or process control of a process plant.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating embodiments of example virtual node architectures which may be included in the MPDSC system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an example arrangement of a physical plant environment which the MPDSC system of FIG. 1 may support.

FIG. 4 depicts an example arrangement of multiple I/O Switches, which may be at least partially implemented in the MPDSC system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example virtualization management system via which at least portions of the MPDSC system of FIG. 1 may be configured and administered.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method of controlling a node of a process control system of an industrial process plant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example multi-purpose dynamic simulation and run-time industrial or process control (MPDSC) system or platform 10 that provides dynamic simulation and/or run-time process control of an industrial or process plant. The example MPDSC platform 10 supports dynamic simulation of process control of the industrial process plant and/or real-time process control using virtualized devices. For example, the virtualized devices may be utilized by the MPDSC platform 10 for physical production purposes during run-time of the process plant. As shown in FIG. 1, the MPDSC platform 10 includes a virtual plant environment portion 12 and a physical plant environment portion 15; however, in embodiments in which the MPDSC platform 10 is utilized solely for real-time simulation purposes, the physical plant environment portion 15 may be omitted. Generally speaking, the virtual plant environment portion 12 and the physical plant environment portion 15 collectively form one or more Operations Technology (OT) layers 18 of the industrial process plant, which may provide generated data to one or more Information Technology (IT) layers 20 associated with the industrial process plant and/or to networks that are external to the IT layers, e.g., for enterprise and/or external use by one or more applications 21 a-21 n, 22 a-22 m. For example, applications 21 a-21 m may be provided by the enterprise that owns/operates the MPDSC platform 10 and may execute in an IT layer associated with the enterprise, and applications 22 a-22 m may be Internet of Things (IoT) and/or Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications provided by respective third-parties that execute in remote networks which are accessed via the Internet or other public network.

The IT layers 20 of the enterprise may be implemented in any number of locally and/or remotely disposed computing devices, such as one or more local and/or remote server banks, one or more computing clouds, etc., and may include any number of applications or consumers 21 a-21 n of data generated by the OT layers 18 of the enterprise. Typically (but not necessarily), and as shown in FIG. 1, the OT layers 18 are communicatively coupled to the IT layers 20 via one or more public and/or private communications networks 24 and one or more edge gateway systems 28, where the edge gateway system(s) 28 provide security and efficiencies of data delivery between the OT layers 18/MPDSC platform 10 and the IT layers 20. Further, the one or more edge gateway systems 28 may provide security and efficiencies of data delivery between the MPDSC platform 10 and external networks and/or external applications 22.

In FIG. 1, the virtual plant environment 12 of the MPDSC platform 10 includes one or more Virtual Nodes (VNs) 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, . . . , 30 p that are communicatively connected with an I/O Switch (which is interchangeably referred to herein as an “I/O Server”) 25. Generally speaking, each Virtual Node 30 x is a virtual machine that simulates or virtualizes the behavior of a respective physical component which may be operable within the physical plant environment 15. Said another way, each Virtual Node 30 x within the virtual plant environment 12 processes data and behaves in the same manner in which its physical counterpart within the physical plant environment 15 would process data and behave.

In particular, each Virtual Node 30 x includes a framework and one or more subsystems 32 that allow the VN 30 x to communicate with other Virtual Nodes 30 x within the virtual plant environment 12 and/or with one or more Physical Nodes (PNs) within the physical plant environment 15, such as Physical Nodes 40 a, 40 b, 40 c and the Edge Gateway System 28 (where the Edge Gateway 28 may be viewed as a particular type of PN), each of which includes respective frameworks and respective one or more subsystems 42 x that allow communications with Virtual Nodes 30 x. Additionally, the MPDSC platform 10 may include any number of other physical nodes or components (e.g., PNa-PNk).

Virtual Nodes may virtualize different types of Physical Nodes. Generally speaking, as utilized herein, a “Physical Node” is a physical device or component of the MPDSC platform 10 that includes hardware and that transmits and/or receives data to/from other devices or components (whether virtual or physical). Examples of types Physical Nodes which may be represented by respective Virtual Nodes include, but are not limited to: various types of process control controllers; various types of local and/or remote I/O devices or cards (such as Wireless I/O Cards (WIOCs), Ethernet I/O Cards (EIOCs), etc.), and various components of I/O electronic marshalling systems (such as CHARacterization Modules (CHARMs), terminal blocks, CHARM I/O Cards (CIOCs), etc.); various types of Safety Instrumented System (SIS) nodes such as safety controllers, safety logic solvers, SIS repeaters, safety network bridges, safety network gateways, etc.; user interface devices including local and/or remote physical operator workstations, mobile devices, and/or other computing devices that provide user interfaces for run-time operations and/or for other purposes related to the MPDSC platform 10; local and/or remote physical computing devices that provide tools related to the MPDSC platform 10, such as control configuration tools, data consolidation and viewing tools, data analytics and analytics configuration tools, display view configuration tools, diagnostic tools, asset management tools, application stations, etc.; various types of gateways utilized within and/or by the MPDSC platform 10, such as wireless gateways, safety gateways, firewalls, edge gateways, field gateways, inter-system gateways, etc.; and other types of physical nodes which may be utilized within a physical plant environment 15.

In some embodiments, a single VN 30 x may represent or virtualize an entire Physical Node. In some embodiments, a single VN 30 x may represent or virtualize one or more portions of a particular Physical Node. For example, a single VN 30 x may represent or virtualize a particular module or group of modules executing or residing at the particular PN, where such modules may include software modules or components, firmware modules components, and/or hardware modules or components. For example, a first VN may represent or virtualize an entire application executing on the particular PN (such as the entirety of a control module which is executable on a physical process controller), a second VN may represent or virtualize a subset of the entire application executing on the particular PN (such as a particular control model, function, or routine utilized by the control module), a third VN may represent or virtualize the behavior of a protocol-specific I/O card or device associated with the particular PN, and/or a fourth VN may represent or virtualize a PN sub-component as granular as a hardware sub-component of the particular PN (e.g., a port or other interface, a bus, a transceiver, a chip, a board, etc.), or a firmware or software sub-component of the particular PN (e.g., a module, a routine, a function or behavior, a networking address of the particular PN, such as a MAC (Media Access Control) address or other type of addresses, etc.).

Examples of types of physical I/O cards which may be utilized within the physical plant environment 15 and which may be represented and/or virtualized by Virtual Nodes 30 x of the MPDSC 10 include, but are not limited to:

discrete output cards, including high density, intrinsically safe, and redundant discrete output cards;

discrete input cards, including high density, intrinsically safe, and redundant discrete input cards;

analog input cards, including analog input cards that support the HART® (Highway Addressable Remote Transducer) communication protocol, redundant analog input cards that support HART, high density redundant analog input cards that support HART, and fast analog input cards;

analog output cards, including analog output cards that support HART, redundant analog output cards that support HART, high density redundant analog output cards that support HART, and fast analog output cards;

serial cards, including redundant, programmable, and redundant programmable serial cards;

interface cards for discrete actuators and/or sensors, RTD (Resistance Temperature Detector) cards, thermocouple cards, millivolt cards, isolated temperature cards, multifunction cards, sequence of events cards, that support the Fieldbus communication protocol, redundant Fieldbus-supporting cards, cards that support the Profibus communication protocol, redundant Profibus-supporting cards, and other types of physical cards.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the VNs 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, . . . , 30 p communicate with each other and with the I/O Switch 25 via respective Publication/Subscription Layers 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, . . . , 32 p and 35, which are referred to interchangeably herein as “Pub/Sub Layers,” and which are denoted in FIG. 1 by the respective hash-marked portions 32 x, 35 of each VN 30 x and of the I/O Switch 25. In embodiments of the MPDSC platform 10 in which Physical Nodes are included, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, at least some of the PNs 28, 40 a, 40 b, 40 c disposed in the physical plant environment 15 may include respective Pub/Sub Layers 38, 42 a, 42 b, 42 c. In a sense, the Pub/Sub Layers 32 x, 35 (and, in some arrangements, Pub/Sub Layers 38, 42 x) serve as a virtual communication network 45 via which various Virtual Nodes 30 x and the I/O Switch 25 (and, in some arrangements, the Physical Nodes 40 x) may communicate abstracted I/O data. In an example implementation, each Pub/Sub Layer 32 x, 35, 38, 42 x is a respective interface to the virtual communication network 45.

The virtual communication network 45 may be implemented by one or more physical communications and/or data links and/or networks, which may include wired and/or wireless networks, and which may be implemented using any suitable technology, such as Ethernet, optical, IP, another type other packet network, etc. Data is communicated between nodes of the via the virtual communication network 45 via publication and subscription, and any or more suitable communication protocols that support publication and subscription may be utilized within the virtual communication network 45 for the delivery of data. For example, private packet protocols and/or public or standardized packet protocols (such as IPv6, IoT, and/or IIoT protocols) may be utilized for publication of and subscription to I/O data that is delivered between various nodes 30 x, 28, 40 x of the virtual communication network 45 and, optionally, to other applications 21 x, 22 x, e.g., by way of edge gateway systems 28.

For example, each node of the virtual communication network 45 (e.g., Virtual Nodes 30 x, I/O switch 25, Physical Nodes 28, 40 x, etc.) may publish I/O data to the virtual communication network 45 via its respective Pub/Sub Layer (e.g., via Pub/Sub Layers 32 x, 35, 38, 42 x, etc.), and each node of the virtual communication network 45 (e.g., Virtual Nodes 30 x, I/O switch 25, Physical Nodes 28, 40 x, etc.) may subscribe to and obtain I/O data that is published to the virtual communication network 45 via its respective Pub/Sub Layer (e.g., via Pub/Sub Layers 32 x, 35, 38, 42 x, etc.). Typically, subscriptions to various published data have a one-to-one correspondence between the I/O Switch 25 and each of the other nodes 30 x, 28, 40 x. In a preferred embodiment, each node 30 x, 28, 40 x of the virtual communication network 45 accepts subscriptions only from the I/O Switch 25 and not from other nodes, and each node 30 x, 28, 40 x subscribes to only I/O data that is published by the I/O Switch 25 (where the I/O data published by the I/O Switch 25 may be forwarded data that was generated by other nodes and to which the I/O Switch 25 has subscribed) and not to I/O data published by other nodes. As such, in this preferred one-to-one embodiment, undirected graphs of publication/subscription relationships are restricted as compared to embodiments that allow nodes to have multiple subscriptions with multiple other nodes, thereby reducing network complexity, simplifying network diagnosis and management, and decreasing network load/utilization. To further reduce network complexity, simplify network diagnosis and management, and decrease network load/utilization, additionally or alternatively each node 30 x, 28, 40 x of the virtual communication network 45 may send, to the I/O Switch 25 via publication, only data that is to be forwarded by the I/O Switch 25 to other nodes of the MPDSC platform 10. Of course, in some embodiments, at least portions of undirected graphs may be implemented in one-to-many, many-to-one, and/or many-to-many relationships, if desired.

Generally speaking, within the MPDSC platform 10, process-related payload data (e.g., as generated by CBMs and/or physical components of the process plant) is abstracted and published as I/O data, and may be delivered to subscriber nodes of the virtual communication network 45 on a demand basis. That is, I/O data may be delivered (e.g., via publication) when the publishing node determines that the process-related data payload requires a new publish event. For example, a publishing node may automatically publish, to the virtual communication network, a certain type of sensor-generated data as I/O data when the sensor-generated data value changes. Optionally, the publishing node may publish, as I/O data, the sensor-generated data value periodically (e.g., every five seconds, ten seconds, one minute, etc.) even when the sensor-generated data value has not changed, e.g., to thereby mitigate lost messages and other fidelity issues which may possibly arise. As such, in some embodiments, no explicit subscription rate is required and/or utilized by subscriber nodes. Consequently, execution of the processing logic (e.g., the component behavior module) at each subscriber node is driven by incoming data that is subscribed to and received via virtual communication network 45, and accordingly, resources utilized by each node and by the virtual communication network 45 may be more efficiently utilized.

In an example illustrative scenario, VN 30 a may generate and publish, as I/O data during run-time, a certain set of process-related payload data, e.g., “Data1,” to its Pub/Sub Layer 32 a. The I/O Switch or Server 25 may have a subscription to I/O data that includes Data1, and may obtain the process-related payload Data1 via the virtual communication network 45, its respective Pub/Sub Layer 35, and its respective subscription. In turn, the I/O Switch or Server 25 may publish the obtained, process-related payload Data1 as I/O data to the virtual communication network 45 via its Pub/Sub Layer 35 for receipt by those nodes that have subscriptions to I/O data that includes Data1. For example, VN 30 b may have a subscription to I/O data that includes Data1, and upon publication of Data1 as I/O data via the Pub/Sub Layer 35 of the I/O Switch 25, VN 30 b may obtain the process-related payload Data1 via the virtual communication network 45, its respective Pub/Sub Layer 32 b, and its subscription thereto. Subsequently, VN 30 b may operate upon the obtained process-related payload Data1 values.

Thus, the MPDSC platform 10 abstracts multiple different types of I/O that is utilized in and native to various physical components of industrial process plants (e.g., discrete output, discrete input, analog output, analog input, serial I/O, Railbus, HART, wireless HART, Fieldbus, Profibus, Ethernet, Advanced Physical Layer, and/or any other types of I/O) for delivery amongst virtual and physical nodes via the I/O Switch 25 and the virtual communication network 45 via publication and subscription. Each node of the virtual communication network 45 may perform respective abstraction and de-abstraction (e.g., recovery) of I/O data that it sends and receives via its respective Pub/Sub Layer and, optionally, other subsystems.

Virtual Nodes

To illustrate I/O abstraction and de-abstraction, FIG. 2 illustrates two example architectural embodiments 52 a, 52 b of a Virtual Node 30 x. Generally speaking, a Virtual Node 30 x simulates and/or virtualizes a Physical Node or physical component which may be utilized and operate within the physical plant environment 15. Each VN 52 a, 52 b includes a respective Pub/Sub Layer 55 a, 55 b via which the VN 52 a, 52 b communicates with the I/O Switch 25. Additionally, each VN 52 a, 52 b includes a respective Component Behavior Module 58 a, 58 b, which is interchangeably referred to herein as a “Component Business Logic Module” 58 a, 58 b or a “CBM” 58 a, 58 b. Generally speaking, a CBM 58 x is a module whose execution governs the operating behavior of its respective Virtual Node 30 x, e.g., at an application level. For example, the CBM 58 x of a Virtual Controller Node may be a particular instance of a control module, where other instances of the control module may be downloaded into physical controllers disposed in the physical plant environment 15 for execution during run-time of the physical plant 15. In another example, the CBM 58 x of a Virtual CIOC Node may be a particular instance of a remote I/O module, where other instances of the remote I/O module may execute, during run-time of the physical plant environment 15, at physical CIOCs disposed therein.

As CBMs 58 x may execute within physical components, CBMs typically are natively conversant in one or more corresponding native I/O types, such as analog input/output, Fieldbus, Railbus, etc. Further, CBMs 58 x typically have no knowledge as to whether they are executing on a Virtual Node 30 x of the virtual plant environment 12, on a Physical Node 40 x disposed within the physical plant environment 15, or on another physical component disposed within the physical plant environment 15, e.g., nodes PNa-PNk. As such, a CBM 58 x sends and receives data in a same manner and using the same processing logic and I/O type irrespective of whether the CBM 58 x is executing in the virtual plant environment 12 or in the physical plant environment 15.

In the embodiment of the Virtual Node 52 a, process-related payload data that is sent and received by the CBM 58 a is abstracted for delivery to/from the VN 52 a via a Virtual Process I/O (PIO) Subsystem 60. Generally speaking, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 simulates native, physical PIO delivery for the Virtual Node 52 a. That is, during run-time of the Virtual Node 52 a, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 communicates I/O process values and events to/from the CBM 58 a using its native I/O, e.g., as though the I/O process values and events were originating from/being delivered to physical hardware. As such, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 may be tailored for the specific type of the Virtual Node 52 a, where the Virtual Node type is governed by its CBM 58 a. For example, if the VN 52 a represents a physical controller that communicates with other devices using Railbus I/O, then the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 provides I/O data to/from the control routine CBM 58 a in the form that is utilized by Railbus I/O cards. If the VN 52 a represents a CIOC, then the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 provides I/O data to/from the remote I/O CBM 58 a in the form that is utilized by CHARMs.

Further, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 may handle data publication and subscription on behalf of the Virtual Node 52 a. That is, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 may publish data generated by the CBM 58 a to the Pub/Sub Layer 55 a, and the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 may subscribe to data generated by other nodes (and forwarded by the I/O Switch 25) via the Pub/Sub Layer 55 a. In an embodiment, subscriptions to and publications of data may be based on a tag or other identifier that is unique within the MPDSC platform 10. The tag or other identifier may uniquely identify data, a node, a device, or a component of the MPDSC platform 10, for example. In an embodiment, the tags and/or identifiers may be assigned during configuration and/or commissioning.

As such, at each virtual node 52 a within the virtual environment 12, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 maintains a logical separation between the CBM 58 a and corresponding physical I/O (e.g., via Pub/Sub Layer 55 a, virtual communication network 45, and other Pub/Sub Layers 32, 35, 38, 42), similar to the logical separation maintained within the physical environment 15 at each physical node having an on-board CBM 58 a and its corresponding physical I/O (e.g., via a physical I/O card or marshalled I/O arrangement). Generally speaking, the Virtual PIO subsystem 60 of any Virtual Node 30 maintains a logical separation between any I/O subscriber (the CBM 58 a, another module, another type of I/O consumer, etc.) that is included in the Virtual Node 30 and its corresponding physical I/O.

In the embodiment of the Virtual Node 52 b shown in FIG. 2, the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60 is omitted or is not utilized. Typically, the types of virtual nodes that utilize the VN architecture 52 b are those nodes whose CBMs 58 b are natively able to communicate with the physical components and technology via which the virtual communication network 45 is implemented. For example, if the virtual communication network 45 is implemented via an IP protocol over Ethernet, then a Virtual Node 52 b that simulates an EIOC includes a CBM 58 b that is natively configured to communicate using IP protocol over Ethernet. Consequently, the EIOC Virtual Node 52 b may exclude (or may turn off or ignore the operation of) the Virtual PIO Subsystem 60, and the EIOC Virtual Node 52 b may handle delivery of data to/from the Virtual Node of 52 b by using only the CBM 58 b and the Pub/Sub Layer 55 b.

Physical Nodes

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example physical plant environment 100 in conjunction with the MPDSC platform 10 of FIG. 1 may operate. For example, the physical environment portion 15 of the MPDSC platform 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include at least portions of the physical plant environment 100.

The physical plant 100 controls an industrial process (or, in some embodiments, operates in conjunction with a virtual plant environment, such as the virtual plant environment 12, to control the industrial process), where the industrial process may be said to have one or more “process outputs” characterizing the state of the process (e.g., tank levels, flow rates, material temperatures, etc.) and one or more “process inputs” (e.g., the state of various environmental conditions and actuators, the manipulation of which may cause process outputs to change). The physical process plant 100 of FIG. 3 includes a field environment 102 and a back-end environment 105, each of which is communicatively connected to the other by a process control backbone or data highway 108, which may include one or more wired and/or wireless communication links and/or networks, and may be implemented using any desired or suitable communication protocol such as, for example, an Ethernet protocol, an IP protocol, or another packet protocol.

At a high level (and as shown in FIG. 3), the field environment 102 includes physical components (e.g., process control devices, networks, network elements, etc.) that are installed and interconnected to operate to control the industrial process during run-time. By and large, these physical components are located, disposed, or otherwise included in the field environment 102 of the physical process plant 100 in which raw materials are received and processed using the physical components disposed therein to thereby generate one or more physical products (e.g., paper, refined oil, pharmaceuticals, etc.). By contrast, the back-end environment 105 of the physical process plant 100 includes various physical components such as computing devices, operator workstations, databases or databanks, etc. that are shielded and/or protected from the harsh conditions and materials of the field environment 102. In some configurations, various computing devices, databases, and other components and equipment included in the back-end environment 105 of the physical process plant 100 may be physically located at different physical locations, some of which may be local to the physical plant 100, and some of which may be remote.

As shown in FIG. 3, the field environment 102 includes one or more process controllers 110 that are communicatively connected to the data highway 108. Each of the process controllers 110 may be connected to one or more intermediary nodes 112, 115 (e.g., I/O cards, I/O devices, I/O systems, etc.) facilitating communication between the controllers 110 and the field devices. Generally speaking, in the process control industry, the term “I/O” is sometimes used in a number of related but different contexts. The term generally refers to a logical link or communication channel that communicatively couples a field device to an I/O card or controller (e.g., “I/O channel”), but may be used when referring to a number of other concepts, such as the physical devices that are utilized to transmit signals to or receive signals from field devices via I/O channels (e.g., “I/O devices” or “I/O cards”) and connectors or terminals associated with the I/O devices (e.g., “I/O connectors”). I/O devices and I/O cards 112, 115 may be stand-alone, individual physical devices each of which is connected to a respective controller and to one or more respective field devices, such as illustrated in FIG. 3. In some arrangements (not shown in FIG. 3), I/O devices, cards, connectors, and other I/O-related components such as terminal blocks, modules, processors, etc. are included in an I/O electronic marshalling system that enables flexible I/O delivery between multiple controllers and multiple field devices of various types, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,684,875; 8,332,567; 8,762,618; 8,977,851; 9,083,548; 9,411,769; 9,495,313; and 9,946,240, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein. As such, for clarity of discussion and as utilized herein, the term “I/O devices” refers generally to physical I/O devices, cards, electronic marshalling systems, and components thereof via which I/O channels are implemented to thereby communicatively couple field devices and controllers.

Still, in the process control industry, the term “I/O” generally may be used to refer to the signals transmitted on the I/O channel (e.g., “I/O signals”), variables or commands represented by the signals (e.g., “I/O parameters”), or to the values of the variables or commands carried by the signals (e.g., “I/O parameter values” or “I/O data payload”). Accordingly, for clarity of discussion and as utilized herein, I/O signals, I/O parameters, and I/O parameter values are collectively and generally referred to herein as “I/O data” or “process I/O data.”

To the extent the term “I/O” is referenced herein without a qualifier, the context of the sentence should make clear which of these concepts is being discussed. Further, it should be understood that an “I/O channel” represents a particular type of “communication channel” or “channel.” That is, unless the context of the sentence suggests otherwise, references in this description to the term “channel” or the term “communication channel,” without the qualifier “I/O,” may refer to a communication link that could be an I/O channel in some implementations, but may also refer to a communication link other than an I/O channel in some implementations.

At any rate, and returning to FIG. 3, each process controller 110 of the physical process plant 100 implements a control strategy defined by one or more control routines (e.g., one or more component behavior modules), which may be stored in a memory of the controller 110. When a processor of the controller executes one or more of the control routines, the controller transmits to a field device a control signal (i.e., a “control output”) over wired or wireless process control communication links or networks to other field devices to control the operation of a process in the plant 100. The controller may generate a control signal based on: (i) one or more received signals, which may be referred to as “control inputs” (e.g., one or more received signals representing measurements obtained by field devices), and (ii) the logic of the one or more control routines, which may be defined by one or more software elements (e.g., function blocks). Typically, a controller manipulates a process input (which may be referred to as a “manipulated variable”) to change a particular process output (which may be referred to as a “controlled variable” or simply a “process variable”) based on feedback (i.e., a measurement of the controlled variable) and a desired value for the process output (i.e., a setpoint).

Generally, at least one field device performs a physical function (e.g., opening or closing a valve, increasing or decreasing a temperature, taking a measurement, sensing a condition, etc.) to control the operation of a process implemented in the physical process plant 100. Some types of field devices communicate with controllers by using I/O devices. Process controllers, field devices, and I/O devices may be wired or wireless, and any number and combination of wired and wireless process controllers, field devices, and/or I/O devices may be included in the process plant environment or platform 100.

The Front-End Environment 102 of the Plant 100

For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a process controller 110 that is communicatively connected to wired field devices 125-132 via input/output (I/O) devices 112 and 115, and that is communicatively connected to wireless field devices 140-146 via a wireless gateway 168 and the data highway 108. In some configurations (not shown), the controller 110 may be communicatively connected to the wireless gateway 168 using one or more communications networks other than the backbone 108, such as by using any number of other wired or wireless communication links that support one or more communication protocols, e.g., Wi-Fi or other IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless local area network protocol, mobile communication protocol (e.g., WiMAX, LTE, or other ITU-R compatible protocol), Bluetooth®, HART®, WirelessHART®, Profibus, FOUNDATION® Fieldbus, etc.

The controller 110, which may be, by way of example, the DeltaV™ controller sold by Emerson Process Management, may operate to implement a batch industrial process or a continuous industrial process using at least some of the field devices 125-132 and 140-146. In an embodiment, in addition to being communicatively connected to the process control data highway 108, the controller 110 is also communicatively connected to at least some of the field devices 125-132 and 140-146 using any desired hardware and software associated with, for example, standard 4-20 mA devices, I/O devices 112, 115, and/or any smart communication protocol such as the FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, the HART® protocol, the WirelessHART® protocol, etc. In FIG. 3, the controller 110, the field devices 125-132 and the I/O devices 112, 115 are wired devices, and the field devices 140-146 are wireless field devices. Of course, the wired field devices 125-132 and wireless field devices 140-146 could conform to any other desired standard(s) or protocols, such as any wired or wireless protocols, including any standards or protocols developed in the future.

The process controller 110 of FIG. 3 includes a processor 120 that implements or oversees one or more process control routines 118 (e.g., that are stored in a memory 122 of the controller 110). The processor 120 is configured to communicate with the field devices 125-132 and 140-146 and with other nodes communicatively connected to the controller 110. It should be noted that any control routines or modules described herein may have parts thereof implemented or executed by different controllers or other devices if so desired. Likewise, the control routines or modules 118 described herein which are to be implemented within the process control plant 100 may take any form, including software, firmware, hardware, etc. Control routines may be implemented in any desired software format, such as using object oriented programming, ladder logic, sequential function charts, function block diagrams, or using any other software programming language or design paradigm. The control routines 118 may be stored in any desired type of memory 122, such as random access memory (RAM), or read only memory (ROM) Likewise, the control routines 118 may be hard-coded into, for example, one or more EPROMs, EEPROMs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other hardware or firmware elements. Thus, the controller 110 may be configured to implement a control strategy or control routine in any desired manner.

The controller 110 implements a control strategy using what are commonly referred to as function blocks, where each function block is an object or other part (e.g., a subroutine) of an overall control routine and operates in conjunction with other function blocks (via communications called links) to implement process control loops within the MPDSC platform 10. Control based function blocks typically perform one of: (i) an input function, such as that associated with a transmitter, a sensor or other process parameter measurement device (sometimes referred to as “input blocks”); (ii) a control function, such as that associated with a control routine that performs PID, fuzzy logic, etc. (sometimes referred to as “control blocks”); or (iii) an output function which controls the operation of some device, such as a valve, to perform some physical function within the process control plant 100 (sometimes referred to as “output blocks”). Of course, hybrid and other types of function blocks exist.

Function blocks may be stored in and executed by the controller 110, which is typically the case when these function blocks are used for, or are associated with standard 4-20 mA devices and some types of smart field devices such as HART® devices, or may be stored in and implemented by the field devices themselves, which can be the case with FOUNDATION® Fieldbus devices. One or more of the control routines 118 may implement one or more control loops which are performed by executing one or more of the function blocks. In a sense, the control routines 118 may be viewed as the component behavior modules of the controller 110.

The wired field devices 125-132 may be any types of devices, such as sensors, valves, transmitters, positioners, etc., while the I/O devices 112 and 115 may be any types of process control I/O devices conforming to any desired communication or controller protocol. For example, the I/O devices 112, 115 may be included in an I/O electronic marshalling system. In FIG. 3, the field devices 125-128 are standard 4-20 mA devices or HART® devices that communicate over analog lines or combined analog and digital lines to the I/O device 112, while the field devices 129-132 are smart devices, such as FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices, that communicate over a digital bus to the I/O device 115 using a FOUNDATION® Fieldbus communications protocol. In some embodiments, though, at least some of the wired field devices 125, 126 and 128-131 and/or at least some of the I/O devices 112, 115 additionally or alternatively communicate with the controller 110 using the process control data highway 108 and/or by using other suitable control system protocols (e.g., Profibus, DeviceNet, Foundation Fieldbus, ControlNet, Modbus, HART, etc.). In some arrangements (not shown in FIG. 3), at least some of the field devices 125-132 may communicate with the controller 110 via an electronic I/O marshalling system instead of via an individual I/O device 112, 115.

In FIG. 3, the wireless field devices 140-146 communicate via a wireless process control communication network 165 using a wireless protocol, such as the WirelessHART® protocol. Such wireless field devices 140-146 may directly communicate with one or more other devices or nodes of the wireless network 165 that are also configured to communicate wirelessly (using the wireless protocol or another wireless protocol, for example). To communicate with one or more other nodes that are not configured to communicate wirelessly, the wireless field devices 140-146 may utilize a wireless gateway 168 connected to the process control data highway 108 or to another process control communications network. The wireless gateway 168 provides access to various wireless devices 140-158 of the wireless communications network 165. In particular, the wireless gateway 168 provides communicative coupling between the wireless devices 140-158, the wired devices 125-132, and/or other nodes or devices of the physical process control plant 100. For example, the wireless gateway 168 may provide communicative coupling by using the process control data highway 108 and/or by using one or more other communications networks of the physical process plant 100.

Similar to the wired field devices 125-132, the wireless field devices 140-146 of the wireless network 165 perform physical control functions within the physical process plant 100, e.g., opening or closing valves, or taking measurements of process parameters. The wireless field devices 140-146, however, are configured to communicate using the wireless protocol of the network 165. As such, the wireless field devices 140-146, the wireless gateway 168, and other wireless nodes 152-158 of the wireless network 165 are producers and consumers of wireless communication packets.

In some configurations of the physical process plant 100, the wireless network 165 includes non-wireless devices. For example, in FIG. 3, a field device 148 of FIG. 3 is a legacy 4-20 mA device and a field device 150 is a wired HART® device. To communicate within the network 165, the field devices 148 and 150 are connected to the wireless communications network 165 via a wireless adaptor 152 a, 152 b. The wireless adaptors 152 a, 152 b support a wireless protocol, such as WirelessHART, and may also support one or more other communication protocols such as Foundation® Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, etc. Additionally, in some configurations, the wireless network 165 includes one or more network access points 155 a, 155 b, which may be separate physical devices in wired communication with the wireless gateway 168 or may be provided with the wireless gateway 168 as an integral device. The wireless network 165 may also include one or more routers 58 to forward packets from one wireless device to another wireless device within the wireless communications network 165. In FIG. 3, the wireless devices 140-146 and 152-158 communicate with each other and with the wireless gateway 168 over wireless links 160 of the wireless communications network 165, and/or via the process control data highway 108.

The Back-End Environment 105 of the Plant 100

As noted, the back-end environment 105 may include various components such as computing devices, operator workstations, databases or databanks, etc. that are typically shielded and/or protected from the harsh conditions and materials of the field environment 102. For example, the back-end environment 105 may include any one or more of the following, each of which may be communicatively connected to the data highway 108: (i) one or more operator workstations 170 a and other local or remote user interface devices 170 b; (ii) one or more configuration applications 172 a and configuration databases 172 b; (iii) one or more other types of applications 175 a and/or databases 175 b, which may include, for example, tools, diagnostics, asset management systems, simulators, and/or other types of applications; (iv) one or more other wireless access points 178 that communicate with other devices associated with plant 100 (e.g., user interface devices 170 b or other devices) using various wireless protocols; (v) one or more plant gateway systems 180 to other plants; (vi) one or more edge gateway systems 182 to systems 185 that are external to the immediate, OT layers of the physical process control platform 100 (e.g., IT networks/systems of the enterprise, and/or external data networks/systems, which may be implemented on cloud computing and/or other suitable platforms); and/or (vii) other physical components that are specially configured via hardware and software to support the process plant 100.

Operator Workstations and User Interface Devices 170 a, 170 b

The operator workstations 170 a and other user interface devices 172 b may be utilized by operators to view and monitor run-time operations of the physical process plant 100, as well as to take any diagnostic, corrective, maintenance, and/or other actions that may be required. At least some of the operator workstations 172 a may be located at various, protected areas in or near the plant 100, and in some situations, at least some of the operator workstations 172 b may be remotely located, but nonetheless in communicative connection with the plant 10. Operator workstations 172 a, 172 b may be wired or wireless computing devices.

Configuration Applications 172 a and Configuration Databases 172 b

The configuration applications 172 a and the configuration databases 172 b may be utilized to configure certain aspects of the plant 100, such as control modules/routines, user interfaces, data monitoring/analytics, etc. For example, various instances of the configuration application 172 a may execute on one or more computing devices (not shown) to enable users to create or change process control modules and download these modules via the data highway 108 to the controllers 110, to create or change operator interfaces via which in operator is able to view data and change data settings within process control routines, to create or change data monitoring/analytics routines and functions which may be downloaded into various physical components within the field environment 102, etc. The configuration databases 172 b store the created (e.g., configured) modules, operator interfaces, data monitoring/analytics, etc. Generally, the configuration applications 172 a and configuration databases 172 b are centralized and have a unitary logical appearance to the physical process control platform 100, although multiple instances of the configuration applications 172 a may execute simultaneously within the physical process control platform 100, and the configuration databases 172 b may be implemented across multiple physical data storage devices. Accordingly, the configuration applications 172 a, the configuration databases 172 b, and the user interfaces thereto (not shown) comprise a configuration or development system 172 for various types of modules, e.g., control modules, display or operator interface modules, and/or analytics modules. Typically, but not necessarily, the user interfaces for the configuration system 172 are different than the operator workstations/user interface devices 170, as the user interfaces for the configuration system 172 are utilized by configuration and development engineers irrespective of whether or not the plant 100 is operating in production mode, whereas the operator workstations/user interface devices 170 are utilized by operators during run-time operations of the physical process plant 100.

Regarding commissioning of the physical components of the MPDSC platform 100, the configuration database 172 b may store data and other information that specifically identifies and/or addresses the various physical devices or components and their interconnections that are planned for or desired to be implemented on the process plant floor or field environment 102. Some of this commissioning data may be provided to components in the field environment 102 for use in commissioning of devices and loops therein, and some of this data may be utilized in the back-end environment 105, e.g., for the design, development, and preparation of control modules, operator interface modules, and/or data analytics modules that will operate in conjunction with the field environment 102 during live operations of the physical process plant 100. In an example, an approved control module is downloaded from the configuration database 172 b into a process controller 110 so that, when executed during live operations, the process controller 110 operates in accordance with its resident control module to send and receive various signals to/from other components in its loop (and, in some cases, to/from other process controllers), thereby controlling at least a portion of the process in the physical process plant 100.

The configuration database 172 b may store a number of logical identifiers of components in the field environment 102, enabling the controller 110 and other devices to reference the components and signals associated with the components by way of the logical identifiers. For example, for a given field device, the configuration database 172 b may store information mapping or binding a logical identifier to a particular hardware address or I/O channel. The hardware address may identify a particular controller, a particular I/O device connected to the particular controller, and/or a particular address for the I/O channel connecting the particular I/O device to the field device. In some instances, this mapping or binding may be stored at the controller 110, the user interface device 170 b, the operator workstation 170 a, or any other desired device (e.g., any device needing to resolve the logical identifier). After a logical identifier has been bound to a hardware address or I/O channel, the identifier is considered “assigned.” In some cases, the plant 100 includes “unassigned” logical identifiers, which are identifiers that a software element (e.g., a control routine and/or a function block) references but that has no binding. That is, a logical identifier is considered “unassigned” when the plant 100 and the configuration database 172 b have no hardware address or I/O channel that has been bound to the tag. Thus, when an unassigned logical identifier is referenced by a control routine, no value carried by a signal in the plant 100 will be read and no command will be transmitted via a signal to a field device in the plant 100.

Examples of such logical identifiers include Device Tags (DTs), each of which represents a particular instrument, controller, valve, or other physical field device, and Device Signal Tags (DSTs), each of which represents a particular signal that is received or generated by a particular device and that typically corresponds to a particular parameter utilized by the field device. For some devices, a Device Signal Tag comprises a combination of a device's Device Tag and an identifier of a specific signal received or generated by that device, e.g., an identifier of a specific parameter referenced by a control module. For some devices, typically legacy or dumb devices, a Device Tag represents both the physical device and a signal generated by the device. Generally speaking, a device's logical identifier is used by the physical process plant 100 in both the field environment 102 and in the back-end environment 105 to uniquely identify the device. The DTs and DSTs may be referred to as “system tags” or “system identifiers.”

In some instances, the smart field devices 129-132 also may store logical identifiers unique to the smart field devices 129-132. These logical identifiers may be distinct from the system tags utilized by the plant 100 to identify the field devices 129-132, and may be referred to as “source identifiers” or “source tags.” Source tags may or may not be stored at the configuration database 172 b, depending on the implementation.

The configuration database 172 b may store data and other information that specifically identifies and/or address various virtual devices or components (e.g., various Virtual Nodes 30) that are planned for or desired to be implemented in the virtual plant environment 12. Similar to physical devices and components, the configuration database 172 may store respective logical identifiers of components of the virtual environment 12, thereby enabling other devices and/or components (whether physical or virtual) to reference the virtual components. For example, similar to Physical Nodes 40 x, various Virtual Nodes 30 x may be uniquely identified within the MPDSC platform 10 (e.g., across both the virtual 12 and physical 15 environments) via their respective Device Tags (DTs), Devices Signal Tags (DSTs), source tags, and/or other types of unique identifiers. Further sections of this disclosure discuss the configuring and identification of virtual devices and components in more detail.

Other Applications 175 a and Databases 175 b

The other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include instances of applications that are specific to the process plant 100, such as diagnostic applications/databases, data historian applications/databases, system level health monitoring applications/databases, local and/or remote user interfaces, etc. Generally speaking, the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include one or more applications executing at the OT layers 18 of the process plant 100 and their associated databases. Additionally or alternatively, the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include one or more applications executing at the IT layers 20 associated with the process plant 100, such as inventory management applications, personnel management applications, supply chain management applications, other types of enterprise-related applications, weather/environmental applications, etc., and their associated databases. For example, the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include the applications 21 a-21 n and their associated databases. Still further additionally or alternatively, the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include one or more applications that are external to and/or that execute remotely from the process plant 100 and/or its enterprise, such as simulation applications, analytics applications, IoT applications, IIoT applications, etc., and their associated databases. For example, the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include the applications 22 a-22 m and their associated databases. The other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may include third-party applications and/or may include applications provided by the enterprise associated with the process plant 100. At least some of the other applications 175 a and databases 175 b may be accessed via an edge gateway system 28 and/or some other type of security and/or firewall system.

Wireless Access Points 178

The one or more other wireless access points 178 enable devices in the back-end environment 105 (and sometimes in the field environment 102) to communicate with other devices using wireless protocols, such as Wi-Fi or other IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless local area network protocols, mobile communication protocols such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution) or other ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radio communication Sector) compatible protocols, short-wavelength radio communications such as near field communications (NFC) and Bluetooth, or other wireless communication protocols. Typically, such wireless access points 178 allow handheld or other portable computing devices (e.g., user interface devices 170 b) to communicate over a respective wireless process control communication network that is different from the wireless network 165 and that supports a different wireless protocol than the wireless network 165. For example, a wireless or portable user interface device 170 b may be a mobile workstation or diagnostic test equipment that is utilized by an operator within the physical process plant 100 (e.g., an instance of one of the operator workstations 170 a). In some scenarios, in addition to portable computing devices, one or more process control devices (e.g., controller 110, field devices 125-132, or wireless devices 168, 140-158) also communicate using the wireless protocol supported by the access points 174.

Gateway Systems 180, 182

The gateway nodes or systems 180 and 182 may interface with systems that are external to the immediate physical process control plant 100. Typically, such systems are customers or suppliers of information generated or operated on by the physical process plant 100. For example, the process control plant 100 may include a plant gateway node 180 to communicatively connect the immediate physical process plant 100 with another process plant. Additionally or alternatively, the process control plant 100 may include an edge gateway node or system 182 to communicatively connect the immediate physical process plant 100 with an external public or private system, such as a laboratory system (e.g., Laboratory Information Management System or LIMS), an operator rounds database, a data consolidation and viewing system, a data analytics system, a materials handling system, an asset management system, a maintenance management system, a product inventory control system, a production scheduling system, a weather data system, a shipping and handling system, a packaging system, the Internet, an IOT application, an IIOT application, or other external systems.

Generally speaking, the edge gateway system 182 allows communications to be securely delivered between the process plant 100 and other networks 185. In an example architecture, an edge gateway system 182 includes an internal- or plant-facing engine (which may be referred to as a “field gateway”) and an external- or outwards-facing engine (which may be referred to as an “edge gateway”), where the plant-facing engine and the external-facing engine cooperate to securely deliver process plant data (e.g., data generated by the OT layers) to external networks and/or applications (e.g., IT layers and/or external networks and/or systems) that are consumers of the plant data. In one of many embodiments, the plant-facing engine collects data generated by various components of the process plant 100, and securely transmits the collected data across one or more secured communication links to the external-facing engine, e.g., via a first set of publications. The external-facing engine has subscribed to the various publications generated by the plant-facing engine and obtains the collected plant data therefrom. In turn, the external-facing engine securely transmits the obtained plant data to one or more external client applications (e.g., applications 21 a-21 n, 22 a-22 m) within the networks 185, e.g., via a second set of publications. Publications and subscriptions at the plant-facing engine and/or at the external-facing engine may be respectively configured as desired. Typically, though, the publication/subscription, encryption, and/or other secure data delivery mechanisms that are utilized between the plant-facing engine and the external-facing engine differ from the publication/subscription, encryption, and/or other secure data delivery mechanism that are utilized between the external-facing engine and external applications. In some embodiments, for additional security, the edge gateway system 182 includes a one-way data diode disposed between the plant-facing engine and the external-facing engine to prevent data from flowing from external networks 185 into the process plant 100. Examples of edge gateway systems may be found in U.S. Patent Publication Numbers 20180115516; 20180115528; 20180115517; and 20180113442, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Of course, other edge gateway systems may be additionally or alternatively utilized by the process plant 100.

It is noted that although FIG. 3 only illustrates a single controller 110 with a finite number of field devices 125-132 and 140-146, wireless gateways 168, wireless adaptors 152, access points 155, routers 158, and wireless process control communications networks 165 included in the example physical process plant 100, this is only an illustrative and non-limiting embodiment. Any number of controllers 110 may be included in the process control plant or platform 100, and any of the controllers 110 may communicate with any number of wired or wireless devices and networks 125-132, 140-146, 168, 152, 155, 158 and 165 to control a process in the plant 100.

Now jointly referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 with respect to Physical Nodes, each Physical Node 40 a-40 c and PNa-PNk shown in FIG. 1 may be a respective one of the physical components or devices discussed with respect to the process control plant 100 of FIG. 3. For example, PN 40 b may be a process controller that has a respective Pub/Sub Layer 42 b and that is communicatively connected to a field device PNh via an I/O card PNg. In another example, PN 40 c may be a CIOC (having a respective Pub/Sub Layer 42 c) to which six different field devices PNa-PNf are communicatively connected, or PN 40 c may be a wireless access point 178 or an EIOC (having a respective Pub/Sub Layer 40 c) to which various other physical components PNa-PNf without Pub/Sub Layers are communicatively connected. In yet another example, PN 40 a may be an I/O marshalling device or I/O hub device that delivers, via its Pub/Sub layer 42 a, process I/O data on behalf of multiple other PNs that do not have Pub/Sub layers, e.g., PNi-PNk. The I/O marshalling or hub device 40 a may be a stand-alone device, or may be included in another physical component disposed within the physical plant environment 15, such as in a controller 110, an I/O device 112, 115 (e.g., a CIOC, an ECOC, a WIOC, etc.), an access point 178, a gateway 180, 182, etc. Further, in some implementations, the edge gateway system 28 and its Pub/Sub Layer 38 may be a Physical Node that is communicatively connected (not illustrated in FIG. 1) to various physical components of the physical plant environment 15 (e.g., PNs 40 a-40 c and PNa-PNk), e.g., in a manner such as discussed with respect to FIG. 3.

I/O Switch

As mentioned above, the I/O Switch 25 shown in FIG. 1 serves as a data broker, switching fabric, or router for process I/O data between nodes of the virtual communication network 45. That is, the I/O Switch 25 forwards, on behalf of a publishing node, I/O data generated by the publishing node to nodes that have subscribed to that data. Generally speaking, the I/O Switch 25 may maintain (and update) records of what I/O data is published by which node, and which nodes have subscribed to which published I/O data. In an embodiment, the I/O data may be identified within the records by the unique identifier, name, or tag that is unique across the MPDSC platform 10, or by a respective indication thereto. The unique identifier may identify the process-related payload data included in the I/O data and/or its publishing node, for example. In an embodiment, the unique identifiers, names, or tags are assigned during configuration and/or commissioning. The I/O Switch 25 utilizes the stored records to route incoming, published data to subscribers of the published data. For example, the I/O Switch 25 may subscribe to I/O data that is published by various nodes 28, 30 x, 40 x, and upon receiving the published I/O data via its subscriptions, the I/O Switch 25 may itself publish the received I/O data to selected subscriber nodes 28, 30 x, 40 x in accordance with the stored records. Typically, but not necessarily, the I/O Switch 25 does not maintain, record, or store any I/O data and/or process-related payload data that is published by other nodes of the virtual communication network 45.

Importantly, the I/O Switch 25 is configured to switch or forward received process I/O data with minimal delay. Indeed, in a prototype, the I/O Switch 25 was able to forward received process I/O data through the I/O Switch 25 in time intervals measured in hundreds of microseconds, such as under 500 microseconds, under 200 microseconds, and under 100 microseconds, depending on loading.

Generally speaking, the I/O Switch 25 may be implemented via hardware, firmware, and/or software. In an example, the I/O Switch 25 is implemented using one or more physical, hardware devices on which specialized software is installed to provide at least some of the I/O Switch 25 functionality described herein; that is, the I/O Switch 25 may be implemented as an appliance. In another example, the I/O Switch 25 is implemented as software (e.g., programs, routines, applications, etc.) that may be installed on and executed by a server or bank of computing devices to provide at least some of the I/O Switch 25 functionality described herein. In yet another example, the I/O Switch 25 is implemented via virtualization, e.g., as a virtual machine, a container (such as Docker, LXD, etc.), or another type of virtualized implementation.

The Pub/Sub Layer 35 of the I/O Switch 25 generally is similar in configuration and functionality to the Pub/Sub Layers 32 x, 38, 42 x, 55 x described elsewhere within this disclosure. However, the Pub/Sub Layer 35 of the I/O Switch 25 is further configured to accept and maintain subscription requests for various identified process I/O data. As discussed above, subscriptions are recorded at and maintained by the I/O Switch 25, e.g., in one or more tangible, non-transitory memories. Further, the Pub/Sub Layer 35 of the I/O Switch 25 is configured to forward published process I/O data to subscribing nodes, which may include other I/O Switches.

To illustrate, FIG. 4 depicts an example arrangement 200 of multiple I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210 which may be included in the MPDSC platform 10 of FIG. 1. In an example, each I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 has a respective architecture similar to that of the I/O Switch 25, including a respective Pub/Sub Layer (as indicated by the respective hash-marked portions). Also similar to the I/O Switch 25, each I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 is associated and interconnected with, via the virtual communication network 225, a respective set of VNs and/or PNs 212 a-212 n, 215 a-215 m, 218 a-218 p, and 220 a-220 q amongst which the respective I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 forwards process I/O data via publishing and subscribing, such as in a manner described above. Although the arrangement 200 includes four I/O switches 202, 205, 208, 210, the concepts discussed herein with respect to the arrangement 200 are easily applied to greater or lesser numbers of I/O switches that are interconnected in a mesh topology.

In FIG. 4, each I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 is further able to forward, via the virtual communication network 225, process I/O data to each of the other I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210. By interconnecting multiple I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210, the number of serviced Virtual Nodes and/or Physical Nodes is able to be expanded to support larger systems 10 and to provide additional delivery bandwidth. In the arrangement 200, each I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 may publish data on behalf of its respective set of VNs/PNs to other I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210. Similarly, each I/O Switch 202, 205, 208, 210 may subscribe to data that is forwarded by other I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210 on behalf of their respective sets of VNs/PNs 212 a-212 n, 215 a-215 m, 218 a-218 p, 220 a-220 q.

The arrangement 200 illustrates each of the I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210 as being directly linked to each of the other I/O Switches 202, 205, 208, 210. That is, the virtual communication network 225 has a fully-interconnected or mesh topology. Accordingly, in an implementation of this arrangement 200, the maximum transmission delay from a publisher node to a subscriber node is bounded, as the maximum number of hops that a particular process I/O data payload may undergo is three. In other implementations of the arrangement 200, the maximum number of hops may differ. For example, the maximum number of hops may be increased, e.g., for monitoring traffic, when time-sequencing capabilities, such as Time Sequencing Networking, or other suitable time-sequencing capabilities) are utilized, and the like. A maximum number of hops within the arrangement 200 may be configured and modified, if desired.

Of course, other interconnected topologies (e.g., hub-and-spoke, star, ring, tree, hybrid, etc.) may be possible in addition to or as an alternative to the mesh topology for the virtual communication network 225. Generally speaking, subscriptions to process I/O data that is published by a particular publishing node, e.g., node 215 a, are made to and managed by its corresponding I/O Switch, e.g., I/O Switch 205. However, if the I/O Switch 205 does not have a record for the particular data to which a subscription is requested, the I/O Switch 205 may forward the subscription request to the other I/O Switches 202, 208, 210. The particular I/O Switch corresponding to the node that publishes the requested data, e.g., I/O Switch 210 corresponding to publishing node 220 q, will have a record corresponding to the requested data and its publishing node 220 q, and will respond to the I/O Switch 205 corresponding to the requesting node 215 a, upon which the I/O Switch 105 may create and store a corresponding record for the requested data. In this manner, a traversal route for the requested data from publishing node 220 q to subscribing node 215 a via the I/O Switches 210, 205 may be established.

In an embodiment, the arrangement 200 may be implemented across multiple MPDSC systems 10. For example, I/O Switch 202 may be included in a first MPDSC system, and I/O Switch 205 may be included in a different MPDSC system. As such, different MPDSC systems may publish and/or subscribe to each other's process I/O data via one or more links of the virtual communication network 225.

Real-Time Virtual Control and Associated Operations

As mentioned above, Virtual Nodes 30 x may virtualize the behavior of various physical components which are operable within the physical plant environment 15. Further, due to the features of the MPDSC platform 10, virtualized components 30 x of the virtual plant environment 12 may operate in conjunction with physical components of the physical plant environment 15 to perform real-time control of the industrial process plant during run-time to thereby generate physical products from raw materials. Referring simultaneously to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 to illustrate, the process controller 110 may be virtualized as the Virtual Node 30 a, which has an architecture 52 a. As such, instead of the physical process controller 110 executing its corresponding control modules or routines 118 during run-time, the Virtual Node 110/30 a includes the control modules or routines 118 as its CBM 58 a and executes the corresponding control modules or routines 118 during run-time, which may include sending and receiving signals to/from various field devices disposed within the physical environment 15 via the I/O Switch 25.

For example, during run-time of the industrial process plant 100, the virtual controller 110/30 a may receive data generated by field device 129 via physical I/O device 115. In this example, physical I/O device 115 is represented in FIG. 1 by physical node PNg, field device 129 is represented in FIG. 1 by physical node PNh, and physical node 40 b is an I/O hub device. Data payload generated by field device PNh is delivered via I/O device PNg to the I/O hub device 40 b, which is a node of the virtual communication network 45. The I/O hub device 40 b may publish, to the I/O Switch 25, the data payload that was generated by the field device PNh and published by I/O hub device 40 b, to which the I/O Switch 25 has a subscription. In turn, the I/O Switch 25 may publish the payload data generated by field device PNh to the virtual controller 110/30 a, whereupon the CBM 58 a (e.g., the control modules/routines 118) of the virtual controller 110/30 a may operate on the payload data generated by the field device PNh. The CBM 58 a may generate output payload data that is to be delivered to another virtual or physical node via the virtual communication network 45.

In another example, during run-time of the industrial process plant 100, the virtual controller 110/30 a may receive data generated by wireless field device 142 a. In this example, physical wireless field device 142 a is represented in FIG. 1 by physical node PNa, and the physical wireless gateway 168 is represented by PN 40 c. Wireless gateway PN 40 c receives payload data generated by wireless field device PNa. As PN 40 c is a node of the virtual communication network 45, PN 40 c publishes, to the I/O Switch 25, the payload data generated by the wireless field device PNa to which the I/O Switch 25 has a subscription. In turn, the I/O Switch 25 may publish the payload data generated by the field device PNa to a virtual node 30 b, where the virtual node 30 b is configured as a representation of an I/O device, such as the I/O device 115. The virtual I/O device 30 b has subscribed to the payload data generated by the field device PNa and forwarded by the I/O Switch 25. As such, the virtual I/O device 30 b obtains the payload data generated by the wireless field device PNa via its subscription, and publishes anew the obtained payload data generated by the field device PNa to the I/O Switch 25 for forwarding to appropriate subscribers. The I/O Switch 25 may in turn publish the obtained payload data of the field device PNa that was published by the virtual I/O device 30 b to its respective subscribers, which (in this example) include the virtual controller 30 a. Upon receipt of the payload data at the virtual controller 30 a via its subscription thereto, the CBM 58 a (e.g., the control modules/routines 118) of the virtual controller 30 a may operate on the payload data generated by the wireless field device PNa. The CBM 58 a may generate output payload data that is to be delivered to another virtual or physical node via the virtual communication network 45.

Virtualization of physical components of industrial process plants provide numerous benefits over industrial process plants that are entirely implemented using physical components. Virtualized components allow an industrial process plant to be flexibly scaled up and/or down in size and number of components with minimal changes to hardware footprint and decreased installation costs. As a virtual nodes may represent a physical device in its entirety or only a portion thereof, control may be easily scaled, e.g., across as many virtual nodes as needed. Additionally, the MPDSC platform 10 provides I/O flexibility via the abstraction of I/O, for example, so that controllers have less dependency on actual configured and downloaded I/O module assignments. That is, at least due to the I/O Switch 25, I/O binding decisions between physical I/O devices and controllers and field devices may be eliminated. Further, by using virtual physical components, software upgrades to the virtualized physical components is easily achieved. Still further, by using the MPDSC platform 10, simulation and on-line testing of behavior of physical components is also easily achieved and improved over currently known techniques.

Virtualization Management Node

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture supporting the configuration, commissioning, management, and administration of the MPDSC system 10 of FIG. 1. For purposes of clarity, and not for limitation purposes, FIG. 5 is discussed herein with simultaneous reference to FIGS. 1-4. As shown in FIG. 5, a Virtualization Management Node 300 (which is interchangeably referred to herein as the “VMN 300” or the “Virtual Node 300”) creates, configures, and manages virtualized components of the MPDSC system 10 such as the I/O Switch 25, various virtual nodes 30 x, the virtual PIO subsystem 60, the publish/subscribe layers 32 x, 35, 38, 42 x, etc. The VMN 300 automatically performs at least some of the creation, configuration, and management of virtual components. Additionally or alternatively, the VMN 300 performs at least some of the creation, configuration, and management of the virtual components based on manual instructions, e.g., manual instructions received via a user interface 302 of the VMN 300, which may be a local or a remote user interface. Further, the Virtualization Management Node 300 drives and/or coordinates simulation activities of the virtual process environment 12, which may be performed with and/or without in-line user input during simulations, as is described in more detail below.

Virtual Component Configuration, Administration, and Management

In an embodiment, during the configuration and/or commissioning of the virtual environment 12 and components thereof, the VMN 300 accesses the system configuration database of the plant (e.g., the VMN 300 accesses the configuration database(s) 172 b of the plant 100 via the data highway 108), and based on the obtained configuration, the VMN 300 determines the types and numbers of virtual nodes, virtual templates and/or subsystems, I/O switches, and/or other virtual components that would best support (or, that are desired to support) the plant configuration. The VMN 300 creates the various types and numbers of virtual nodes 30 x, and configures the I/O Switch 25 and the virtual nodes 30 x to communicate via the virtual communication network 45, e.g., via respective publish/subscribe layers 32 x and, for some VNs 30 x, via the virtual PIO subsystem 60. For some plant configurations, the VMN 300 may create and distribute instances of publish/subscribe layers 42 x (and optionally, instances of the virtual PIO subsystem 60) to various physical components 40 x of the physical plant environment 15. As such, the VMN 300 may create, configure, and administer any number of nodes 25, 28, 30 x, 40 x of the virtual communication network 45, which may include virtual components that operate in conjunction with physical components of the physical plant to perform real-time control and/or dynamic simulation.

The configuration of the virtual communication network 45 and its nodes 25, 28, 30 x, 40 x may be stored in the system configuration database 172 b, and/or may be locally stored in a virtual environment configuration database 305. In some implementations, a master version of the configuration of the virtual plant environment 12 is stored in the system configuration database 172 b (along with the configuration of the physical plant environment 15), and a copy of the master configuration of the virtual plant environment 12 is locally stored in the virtual environment configuration database 305. In some implementations, a master version of the configuration of the virtual plant environment 12 is stored in the virtual environment configuration database 305, and a copy of the master configuration of the virtual plant environment 12 is stored in the system configuration database 172 b (along with the configuration of the physical plant environment 15). The VMN 300 coordinates change management and synchronization of data stored in the virtual environment configuration database 305 and related data stored in the system configuration database 172 b.

While the plant 100 is performing operational process control during run-time of the process plant 100, the VMN 300 may monitor the I/O Switch 25, virtual nodes 30 x, the virtual communication network 45 and any associated nodes (such as physical nodes 40 x, 28) with respect to, for example, resource loading, resource availability, resource bandwidth, fault occurrence, and other performance issues of hardware and/or software resources provided by the physical computing platform supporting the virtual environment 12, e.g., platform of hardware computing devices supporting the virtual environment 12. Based on detected and/or predicted conditions, the VMN 300 may automatically perform mitigating actions during run-time operations, such as adjusting resource allocations, activating stand-by Virtual Nodes, creating and/or deleting Virtual Nodes, etc., e.g., for load-balancing, fault recovery, and other performance purposes. As an example, the VMN 300 may analyze performance bottlenecks and perform auto-leveling operations to mitigate any detected bottlenecks. For instance, the VMN 300 may perform auto-leveling at a process data level in response to the amount of virtual network traffic on the virtual communication network 45, and/or the VMN 300 may perform auto-leveling at a physical computing device level so that CPU and/or physical network utilization is balanced across the physical computing devices, physical data links, and/or physical networks on which the virtual environment 12 is implemented.

Administratively, the VMN 300 may perform the saving, snapshot, backup, migration, restoration, etc. of various virtual nodes, virtual templates and subsystems, and associated process data, and the VMN 300 may perform the saving, snapshot, backup, migration, restoration, etc. of the entire virtual environment 12 itself. In an embodiment, each administrative action performed by the VMN 300 may apply to an entirety of the logic simulated by subject Virtual Nodes (e.g., the entirety of the logic performed by collective set of CBMs 58 of the subject Virtual Nodes). For example, when taking and saving a snapshot of a virtual controller, the VMN 300 may not only save data that is received, operated on, generated by, and indicative of the virtual controller and its interconnections and operating states, but the VMN 300 may also save, as part of the snapshot, associated data of modules that are executed in conjunction with the virtual controller, even if such modules are hosted on other nodes and/or simulate other physical components. In another example, when taking and saving a snapshot of a virtual CIOC, the VMN 300 may save data corresponding to the virtual machine level of the virtual CIOC, and/or the VMN 300 may save process simulation values observed by the virtual CIOC.

Dynamic Simulation

As mentioned above, the MPDSC system 10 supports the dynamic simulation of the entire process plant 100 and/or of portions thereof. For example, the MPDSC system 10 provides for a real-time simulation, where the real-time simulation mirrors the run-time timing, values, and/or other behaviors of at least part of a corresponding physical component and/or physical operational process. As utilized herein, the terms “simulation” and “simulation run” are utilized interchangeably, and a simulation or simulation run is bounded. That is, each simulation or simulation run has a respective start and a respective finish, which may be defined as desired, e.g., based on a time, a parameter value, a state, a user command, and/or other criteria.

Additionally, the MPDSC system 10 provides for manipulation of simulations such as, for example, speeding up or slowing down the pace of simulation execution, pausing the simulation, inserting and/or modifying various values, changing initial conditions, etc. Simulations may be executed entirely within the virtual environment 12 of the MPDSC system 10, and/or simulations may be executed using one or more virtual or simulated components in conjunction with one or more physical components (e.g., a configuration of a controller simulated by a Virtual Node in the virtual environment 12 may communicate with a physical field device disposed in the physical environment 15 to test the simulated controller behavior). Generally speaking, the MPDSC system 10 provides a platform via which engineers and users may test and check out draft control strategies and draft operator displays, investigate process improvements, perform operator training, perform case studies, etc. The VMN 300 manages, coordinates, and drives simulation activities supported by the MPDSC system 10.

In particular, the VMN 300 creates, configures, and administrates virtual nodes 25, 30 x and other virtual components 28, 32, 35, 38, 42 x, 60 that simulate at least portions of the physical plant 100. Virtual nodes 25, 30 x, that are utilized solely for simulation purposes (and not for run-time control purposes) are interchangeably referred to herein as “simulated nodes.” For example, the VMN 300 may generate a mirror simulation system of the entire run-time control system as described by the plant configuration database 172 b, e.g., by utilizing simulated nodes that simulate integral physical hardware components such as controllers 110, workstations 170 a, and/or other physical devices and their corresponding network interconnections (in some implementations, simulating down to the MAC address level). In another example, the VMS 300 may generate respective simulations of one or more individual physical components, each of which may execute in a stand-alone mode or in conjunction with one or more other simulated, virtual, and/or physical components. For instance, the VMS 300 may generate, within the virtual environment 12, a virtual twin of a physical component that is currently operating within the physical environment 15, e.g., to test a new control configuration, an upgrade, a patch, etc. that is to be applied to the physical component. In another example, VMS 300 may generate a simulation of a MAC address level behavior of a particular physical component. In yet another example, the VMS 300 may generate a unitary (e.g., single) simulated node that simulates the real-time operating behavior of a group of physical devices, components, or nodes, such as a control loop or an operator display view.

With regard to configuring the types of data values utilized within the virtual 12 and physical 15 environments of the process control system 100, in an embodiment, a system process data definition (which may be configured via a system configuration application 172 a and/or via the VMS 300) defines which data values (and/or types thereof) utilized within the process plant 100 are to be simulated, and the VMS 300 assigns respective Data Tags (e.g., identifiers) to the data values (and/or types thereof) that are to be simulated. For example, the VMS 300 may automatically assign Data Tags to at least some data values and/or data types that are to be simulated, and/or the VMS 300 may receive manually generated Data Tags of at least some data values and/or data types that are to be simulated, e.g., via the user interface 302. Assigned Data Tags of simulated data values and/or data types may be stored in the virtual environment configuration database 305 and/or in the system configuration database 172 b.

Additionally, the VMN 300 drives and/or coordinates the simulations of the entire physical plant 100 and/or portions thereof. To this end, the virtual environment 12 provides a Simulator API (Application Programming Interface) 310 or other suitable access mechanism via which applications, such as the user interface 302, IT layer applications 21 x, and/or third-party or external applications 22 x may interface with the virtual environment 12 for the purposes of simulation. In an embodiment, the VMN 300 or other computing device within the virtual environment 12 hosts and/or exposes the Simulator API 310 to other applications.

As shown in FIG. 5, the Simulator API 310 communicates simulated data values (also interchangeably referred to herein as “simulation data values,” “simulated values,” and/or “simulation values”) to and from the virtual environment 12 and simulated components included therein via the I/O Switch 25. Generally speaking, simulated run-time process data is delivered between 28, 30 x, and the Simulator API 310 via the nodes' respective Pub/Sub layers. For example, simulated nodes 28, 30 x, 310 may to publish run-time process data to one or more other simulated nodes 28, 30 x, 310 via the I/O Switch 25, and simulated nodes 28, 30 x, 310 may subscribe to run-time process data that is generated by one or more other simulated nodes 28, 30 x, 310 and received via the I/O switch 25. On the other hand, in an embodiment, simulated data values that are not run-time process data (e.g., data values that are configurable and that are typically assigned during down-load time in the physical environment 15) may be delivered between simulated nodes 28, 30 x, 310 on an as-changed basis, e.g., only when respective values of the data change.

The Simulator API 310 is configured with names, data tags, identifiers, data definitions, channel data, etc. of simulated components within the virtual environment 12 (e.g., based on data stored in the virtual configuration database 305), and the Simulator API 310 is also configured to communicate using one or more industrial and/or general purpose communication/data protocols, which may be a standardized protocol, e.g., OPC, Ethernet, IPv6, etc. As such, the Simulator API 310 serves as a data delivery and transport mechanism between simulated components within the virtual environment 12 and other applications 302, 21 x, 22 x that are consumers and/or providers of simulation data and that utilize the one or more industrial and/or general purpose communication/data protocols. For example, a third-party simulation application may utilize the Simulator API 310 to inject test values for use by a simulated component, change the initial conditions of a simulation run, etc.

Additionally or alternatively, the Simulator API 310 handles simulation commands provided via the user interface 302 and/or by other applications 21 x, 22 x. For example, the Simulator API 310 may receive simulation commands to speed up and/or slow down the pace of module execution (at least some of which is simulated within the virtual environment 12) and/or to speed up and/or slow down the pace of I/O processing, and may drive the timing and the actions of associated simulated nodes 30 x, 28 and/or of the virtual communication network 45 accordingly. In another example, the Simulator API 310 may receive simulation commands to inject and/or change various data values during the simulation. Further, the Simulator API 310 may receive administrative simulation commands to, for example, save a snapshot, retrieve a saved snapshot, restore from saved data, etc. and may perform the corresponding action in response. For example, the Simulator API 310 may receive and respond to simulation commands to save, retrieve, restore, etc. a simulation of the entire process plant 100 (e.g., to/from the virtual environment configuration database 305 and/or from to/from the system configuration database 172 b) as well as to save, retrieve, restore, etc. a simulation of one or more nodes or components of the process plant 100.

Generally speaking, the Simulation API 310 is stateful. That is, the Simulation API 310 is aware of various states of the simulation and components (e.g., of virtual, physical, and/or simulated devices; virtual, physical, and/or simulated modules; other types of virtual, physical, and/or simulated components; a process that is being at least partially simulated by the simulation; a state of the overall simulation; etc.) associated therewith as the simulation executes, and responds to the received commands based on the various states. For example, in responding to a Save command, the Simulation API 310 may save process data in conjunction with data indicative of associated components' states. In another example, when simulating a modified control module executing within a controller for testing purposes, the Simulation API 310 may allow a user to change the state of an associated module to determine how the modified control module would respond to different states of the associated module.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method 400 of controlling a node of a process control system of an industrial process plant. At a least a portion of embodiments of the method 400 may be performed by one or more portions of the multi-purpose dynamic simulation and run-time industrial or process control (MPDSC) system or platform 10 of FIG. 1 and/or any one or more components thereof; by one or more portions of embodiments of the virtual nodes 52 a, 52 b of FIG. 2; by one or more portions of embodiments of the physical plant environment 100 of FIG. 3 and/or any one or more components thereof; by one or more portions of embodiments of the arrangement 200 of I/O Switches of FIG. 4; and/or by one or more portions of embodiments of the Virtualization Management Node 300 of FIG. 5. For ease of illustration, and not for limitation purposes, the method 400 is described herein with simultaneous reference to portions of FIGS. 1-5. Further, the method 400 may include more, fewer, and/or alternate steps other than those described herein, in embodiments.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the method 400 includes communicatively connecting (block 402) a field device and a virtual node via an I/O switch disposed between the field device and the virtual node so that the field device, the I/O switch, and the virtual node operate in conjunction during run-time operations of the industrial process plant, e.g., to control an industrial process. For example, the field device may be similar to one of the field devices 125-132 and 140-146 shown in FIG. 3, one of the physical nodes 40 a, 40 b, 40 c, or PNa-PNk of FIG. 1, and/or one of the physical nodes 212 a-212 n, 215 a-215 n, 218 a-218 n, or 220 a-220 n shown in FIG. 4. The I/O switch may be implemented as an embodiment of the I/O switch 25 of FIG. 1 and/or one of the I/O switches 202-210 of FIG. 4, for example. The virtual node may be similar to one of the virtual nodes 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, . . . , 30 p shown in FIG. 1, the virtual nodes 52 a, 52 b shown in FIG. 2, and/or the virtual nodes 212 a-212 n, 215 a-215 n, 218 a-218 n, or 220 a-220 n shown in FIG. 4, for example.

At any rate, with respect to the block 402 of the method 400, the field device that is communicatively connected to the virtual node via the I/O switch is disposed in a physical environment of the industrial process plant and performs a physical function, during run-time operations of the industrial process plant, to control an industrial process to generate physical products from raw or other types of input materials, such as manufacturing, material transformation, etc. For example, the field device may itself be a valve or another type of device, may actuate another device such as a valve or other type of device, may increase or decrease a temperature, may take a measurement, may sense a condition, etc.

With respect to FIG. 6, the I/O switch is a subscriber to first data that is generated by the field device and that has been published, and the I/O switch is a publisher of second data that is indicative of the first data generated by the field device. For example, the I/O switch may receive, via a subscription, first data that is generated by the field device, e.g., while the field device is operating to control the industrial process during run-time operations of the plant, and the I/O switch may publish the received first data as second data. Generally, the I/O switch may publish and subscribe to various data of various devices to which it is communicatively connected via one or more publish/subscribe layers or mechanisms, such as the pub/sub layers 32 a-32 p, 35, 38, and 42 a-42 c shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, and/or the pub/sub layers 55 a, 55 b of FIG. 2.

Additionally with respect to FIG. 6, the virtual node is disposed in a virtual environment of the industrial process plant, and is a subscriber to the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch. For example, the virtual node may subscribe to various data of various devices to which it is communicatively connected, and may receive the various data to which the virtual node has subscribed (or indications thereof) via the virtual node's publish/subscribe layer or mechanism, such as one of the pub/sub layers 32 a-32 p of FIG. 1 or one of the pub/sub layers 55 a, 55 b of FIG. 2. Similarly, the virtual node may publish data for other nodes' consumption via its respective pub/sub layer.

In some arrangements, the virtual node may be a virtual run-time node, such as a virtual controller, virtual safety controller or logic solver, I/O card or marshalling system, or other type of node which is a virtualized instance of a physical node which may be utilized in the physical environment of the industrial plant, e.g., such as described above. In some implementations, a single virtual run-time node may virtualize a group of nodes. For example, a single virtual run-time node may behave as a physical I/O marshalling cabinet and the set of physical I/O cards included therein.

In some arrangements, the virtual node may be a simulated node which simulates one or more integral hardware physical components of the physical environment of the process plant and optionally behaviors and/or operations thereof, which may be, for example, sub-systems, devices, components of devices, networking connections and/or components, etc., down to the granularity of MAC address levels, if desired.

At any rate, the virtual node (whether the virtual node is a virtual run-time node or is a simulated node) may include a respective component behavior module (CBM), which may comprise a set of instructions stored on one or more memories of the virtualized node and executed by one or more processors of the virtualized node. The CBM that is resident on and executed at the virtualized node may govern at least some behaviors and/or operations of the virtualized node, e.g., in a manner such as described above, at least by operating on I/O data. For example, the CBM of the virtualized node may be implemented as a control module or routine, a safety logic module or routine, an executable object, etc. Generally speaking, an instance of the CBM of the virtualized node is able to be utilized by a physical node of the process plant. That is, different instances of a particular CBM may be downloaded or otherwise provided to a virtual node and to a physical node, and the downloaded instances of the particular CBM may be unaware or agnostic as to whether they are being executed in a virtual node or in a physical node. With particular respect to the virtual node of the method 400, the virtual node publishes data generated by its CBM via its pub/sub layer, and the virtual node receives published data to which the it has subscribed via its pub/sub layer and provides the received data to its CBM so that the CBM may operate on the received data.

As shown in FIG. 6, during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant, the method 400 includes receiving, by the virtual node, the second data corresponding to the field device that has been published by the I/O switch (block 405). For example, the virtual node may receive, via its pub/sub layer, the second data published by the I/O switch, where the published second data is based on the first data that is generated by the field device and that is subscribed to and received by the I/O switch.

At a block 408, the method 400 includes operating on, during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant and by utilizing a component behavior module of the virtual node, the second data, thereby generating a control signal based on the second data. For example, the CBM that is resident on and executed at the virtual node may operate on the received second data (e.g., may utilize the received second data as input(s)), and may generate a corresponding control signal based on the operations or execution of the CBM. The CBM of the virtual node may be a control routine or module; a safety logic routine, module, or solver; or another type of object, routine, module, or executable, for instance.

At a block 410, the method 400 includes causing, during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant, an indication of the control signal to be transmitted to another node of the process control system, e.g., a recipient node, thereby modifying a behavior of the another or recipient node (block 410). The another or recipient node may be another virtual node (such as another virtual run-time node, or a simulated node), or the recipient node may be a physical node of the industrial process plant.

In an embodiment of the block 410, causing the indication of the control signal to be transmitted to the recipient node includes directly transmitting, by the virtual node, the indication of the control signal to the recipient node.

In another embodiment of the block 410, causing the indication of the control signal to be transmitted to the recipient node includes publishing, by the virtual node, third data that is indicative of the control signal, e.g., via the pub/sub layer of the virtual node. In this embodiment, the I/O switch may be a subscriber to the third data published by the virtual node, and the I/O switch may operate on the third data to generate and publish fourth data that is indicative of the received third data, e.g., via the pub/sub layer of the I/O switch. In an example implementation of this embodiment, the recipient node may be a subscriber to the fourth data published by the I/O switch, and as such the recipient node may receive the published fourth data via its pub/sub layer, where the fourth data is indicative of the control signal.

In another example implementation of this embodiment, an intervening node may be communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and the recipient node. In this example implementation, the intervening node may be a subscriber to the fourth data published by the I/O switch, and as such the intervening node may receive the published fourth data via its pub/sub layer. The intervening node may convert or translate the received fourth data into a communication format that is native or otherwise known to the recipient node, and may transmit and/or publish the converted or translated fourth data via one or more suitable communication links and/or networks to the recipient node, so that the recipient node receives an indication of the control signal in its native or known communication format. For example, the intervening node may be similar to one of the nodes 40 a-40 c or 28 shown in FIG. 1, or may be another I/O switch such as one of the I/O switches 202-210 of FIG. 4. In an example arrangement, the intervening node may be an I/O hub that is communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and a plurality of physical devices that are disposed in the physical environment of the process plant. The plurality of physical devices may or may not include the field device which generated the first data, e.g., as described above with respect to block 402. In this example arrangement, the I/O hub may be a publisher of data generated by any of the plurality of physical devices to which it is communicatively connected, and may be a subscriber to data that is utilized by any of the plurality of physical devices and that is published by another virtual device, the I/O switch, or any other publishing node utilizing the MPDSC 10.

With further respect to the block 410, whether the recipient node receives the fourth data published by the I/O switch directly via a subscription or via an intervening node, the content of the fourth data (which, as previously described, is indicative of the control signal generated by the CBM of the virtual node) received by the recipient node may cause the recipient node to modify its behavior. As previously discussed, the recipient node may be another virtual node (which may be a virtual run-time node or a simulated node) of the industrial process plant, or the recipient node may be a physical node of the industrial process plant. As such, the content of the fourth data that is received by the recipient node (via the I/O switch or via the intervening node) may be operated on by the CBM of the recipient node, thereby causing a change in the behavior and/or the operations, e.g., the run-time behavior and/or the run-time operations, of the recipient node. For example, the content of the received fourth data may be indicative of a control signal generated by the virtual node, and the CBM of the recipient node may operate on the control signal and modify its behavior and/or operations accordingly, e.g., while the industrial process plant is operating in run-time to control the industrial process. In some instances, depending on the role of the recipient node, at least a portion of the control of the industrial process within the process plant may be modified based on the content of the data received by the recipient node and corresponding to the fourth data published by the I/O switch.

In an embodiment of the method 400 (not shown in FIG. 6), the virtual node described with respect to the block 402 is a virtual run-time node, and the method 400 includes communicatively connecting one or more simulated nodes to the I/O switch, where the one or more simulated nodes are virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant. The one or more simulation nodes and at least a portion of the I/O switch may be included in a simulation system, for example, where the simulation system simulates the run-time behavior and/or run-time operations of one or more virtual and/or physical components and/or nodes of the industrial process plant. Indeed, in some scenarios, the one or more simulated nodes may simulate the run-time behavior of respective virtual and/or physical components and/or nodes in conjunction with the run-time operations of one or more virtual run-time and/or physical nodes of the industrial process plant, e.g., while the one or more actual virtual run-time and/or physical nodes are operating during run-time while the industrial process plant is controlling the process.

To provide the simulation of run-time behavior, each of the one or more simulation nodes may execute, via one or more processors, a respective CBM which is stored on one or more memories of the respective simulation node. As mentioned above, the respective CBMs of the simulated nodes are agnostic or unaware of whether they are executing on a simulated node, on a virtual run-time node, or on a physical node, and thus instances of the respective CBMs are deployable into various respective physical and/or virtual run-time nodes, components, and/or devices within the physical environment of the process plant. Generally speaking, a simulated node may simulate any physical device, or component thereof, that is deployable and/or disposed in the industrial process plant, including, but not limited to, for example: a process controller; a safety controller; a safety logic solver; an I/O node, card, or device; a wireless device; a Ethernet device; an operator workstation; a user interface device; a tool; a gateway; an electronic marshalling cabinet; a network connection; a MAC address; another type of physical device or component that is deployable and/or disposed within the physical environment of the industrial process plant; a module, a routine, a function or behavior; a MAC address; a hardware sub-component of a particular physical device or component; or another portion of a particular physical device or component that is deployable and/or disposed within the physical environment of the industrial process plant.

In some embodiments, the method 400 includes executing a simulation run including a particular simulated node of the one or more simulated nodes of the system or MPDSC 10 (not shown in FIG. 6). In particular, executing the simulation run includes executing the respective CBM of the particular simulated node. The respective component behavior module of the particular simulated node may be executed to thereby generate data; and the data generated by the particular simulated node may be communicated to another node of the MPDSC 10, e.g., a receiving node of the data generated by the particular simulated node. For example, the data generated by the particular simulated node may be directly transmitted from the particular simulated node to the receiving node. In another example, the data generated by the particular simulated node may be published, via the pub/sub layer of the particular simulated node, and the receiving node, the I/O switch, or an intervening node communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and the receiving node may be a subscriber to the generated data published by the simulated node. The receiving node may receive the content of the generated data via the subscriber to the generated data published by the simulated node, such as in a manner described above. The receiving node may be another virtual node (e.g., another simulated node, or another virtual run-time node), or the receiving node may be a physical node. In some implementations, at least one of the simulated node or the receiving node may operate in conjunction with other run-time virtual and/or physical nodes during run-time operations of the industrial process plant.

In some scenarios, subsequent to executing the simulation run that involves the particular simulation node, the method 400 may include downloading or otherwise providing a respective instance of the CBM of the particular simulation node to a virtual run-time node or to a physical node of the industrial process plant. For example, the simulation run may be a test or otherwise prove the desired behavior of the CBM in the particular simulated node, and after the simulated behavior has been proven to be satisfactory and/or has been approved, the instance of the CBM may be downloaded into a run-time node (whether virtual or physical). As such, via the MPDSC 10, simulated behavior may be easily tested and proven (in some cases, under run-time conditions), and once approved, may be easily downloaded or provided for execution in respective virtual and/or physical run-time nodes.

Not all simulation runs, though, need be executed in real-time or under run-time conditions. To this end, the simulation system may provide a simulation management node and a simulator access mechanism via which simulation runs may be administered, as desired, under various conditions. For example, the simulation management node may be implemented using an embodiment of the VMN 300 of FIG. 5, and the simulator access mechanism may be implemented by using an Application Programming Interface (API), a function, a service, and/or another type of mechanism that is accessible and exposed to users and/or other applications, such as the Simulator API 310 of FIG. 5. The method 400 may include utilizing the simulator access mechanism to, for example, provide and/or receive one or more simulated values utilized during the execution of the simulation run including the particular simulated node. Additionally or alternatively, the method 400 may include utilizing the simulator access mechanism to operate on one or more simulation execution and/or administrative commands, e.g., as provided by a user and/or by other applications (such as OT layer applications associated with the enterprise associated with or providing the industrial process control system and/or plant, and/or third-party applications). For example, the method 400 may include utilizing the simulator access mechanism to execute the simulation run at a run-time pace, speed up the simulation run to execute faster than the run-time pace; slow down the simulation run to execute slower than the run-time pace; set a simulated value of the simulation run; set an initial condition of the simulation run; pause the simulation run; set an intermediate condition of the simulation run; modify a pace of the execution of the simulation; modify a simulated value associated with the simulation run; save or store data associated with at least a portion of the simulation run; retrieve a saved or stored at least a portion of the simulation run; save or store a configuration of the simulation run; retrieve a saved or stored configuration of the simulation run; and/or the like, such as in a manner described above.

In an embodiment, the simulator access mechanism may maintain one or more states associated with a simulation run. The one or more states may be respectively associated with various one or more portions of the simulation run and/or with components and/or devices associated therewith. For example, the one or more states may correspond to a state of a virtual component, a state of a physical component, a state of a simulated component, a state of a virtual device, a state of a physical device, a state of a simulated device, a state of a virtual module, a state of a physical module, a state of a simulated module, a state of a process that is being at least partially simulated by the simulation run, a state of the simulation run, and/or another type of state associated with the simulation run, such as in a manner described above.

Thus, in view of the above, the novel Multi-Purpose platform for Dynamic Simulation and run-time Control platform 10 provides numerous benefits and advantages over known process control systems. For example, as the MPDSC platform 10 supports both simulation and run-time control via virtual components, testing of changes (e.g., upgrades, patches, etc.) may be performed in the virtual environment 12 via a simulated component, and upon satisfactory checkout, the simulated component may be easily activated as a virtual component of the process plant 100 (e.g., “Load, Evaluate, Go,” bumpless or warm switchovers, etc.). As such, switchovers of simulated components to run-time components is more easily accomplished, and downtime due to upgrades, patches, and planned maintenance is reduced. Moreover, the amount of resources that are utilized to provide virtualized hot spares of various components and bring the virtualized hot spares on-line during failure or error scenarios is also greatly reduced.

Further, the provision of run-time virtual components by the MPDS platform 10 allows for independence between hardware and software within the plant 100. For example, controller software that is utilized during run-time of the process control system 100 may be upgraded in run-time-virtual controllers without needing to upgrade or change any physical controller hardware. Similarly, due to the hardware/software independence, the MPDS platform 10 allows for hardware of the process plant 100 to be upgraded independently of software upgrades.

Still, the provision of run-time virtual components and the administration and/or management thereof (e.g., via the VMS 300 of the MPDSC platform 10) also allows for easy and less costly system scalability, as additional virtual components may be easily implemented within the virtual environment 12 without needing to pay for, install, test, commission, and check out different physical hardware components and required cabinets, wiring, etc. Indeed, when additional virtual components are needed to support the system 100, virtual components may be created as needed up to the processing and/or memory limits of the physical computing devices and/or hardware on which the virtual environment 12 is implemented, after which additional physical computing devices and/or hardware may simply be added thereto.

The virtual environment 12 provided by the MPDS platform 10 enables the creation of various components' digital twins and/or virtual simulation of the entire process plant 100, e.g., for testing, hot spares, upgrades, patches, planned maintenance, and/or other purposes. Digital twins (e.g., of particular components and of the entire process plant 100) may be updated in lock-step with updates to their respective particular physical component(s). That is, state information may be passed, via the MPDSC platform 10, from physical node(s) to virtual node(s). Indeed, the MPDSC platform 10 provides enhanced on-line testing of changes and/or different scenarios (e.g., “what-if”′ scenarios), and, in some situations, in conjunction with run-time virtual and/or physical components of the process plant 100. Due to the common MPDS platform 10 (and in particular, the virtual environment 12 of the MPDS platform 10) being architected and utilized for both simulation and run-time control purposes, off-simulation is easily accomplished without any configuration changes.

Still further, as the MPDS platform 10 abstracts the I/O of the process plant 100 away from being specifically directly associated with particular hardware, I/O configuration within the plant 100 is more flexible and is easily changed and adapted not only during run-time, but also during upgrades, maintenance, failures, and the like. Significantly, communicative connections between I/O devices and other components (e.g., CIOCs and controllers) are no longer limited by physical ports that are available on physical I/O devices. As I/O is abstracted within the MPDS platform 10, any number of communicative connections between a virtual I/O device and other components are logically possible, up to the processing and/or memory limits of the physical computing devices and/or hardware on which the virtual environment 12 is implemented, after which additional physical computing devices and/or hardware may simply be added thereto. Similarly, due to the abstraction of I/O within the MPDS platform 10, and control modules and/or other CBMs 58 may be assigned to any virtual host device or component without any concern for I/O location and/or loading of the host device or component, as is necessary when utilizing physical host devices or components. That is, as previously discussed, virtual components (whether utilized for simulation or for run-time control purposes) may operate utilizing I/O from physical components or from other virtual components. As such, the MPDS platform 10 is able to abstract (e.g., by utilizing the I/O Switch 25) redundancy, retry, and other mechanisms that are presently tied to specific implementations within currently known techniques so that the abstractions may be utilized across in multiple, different types of applications, scenarios, and implementations, e.g., with selected customization and specialization of various abstractions for particular implementations and/or applications. Consequently, the MPDS platform 10 is able to support many more numbers and types of I/O systems (as compared to currently known techniques) in a consistent and easily scalable manner.

When implemented in software, any of the applications, services, virtual devices, vertical machines, virtual entities, etc. described herein may be stored in any tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory such as on a magnetic disk, a laser disk, solid state memory device, molecular memory storage device, or other storage medium, in a RAM or ROM of a computer or processor, etc. Although the example systems disclosed herein are disclosed as including, among other components, software and/or firmware executed on hardware, it should be noted that such systems are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware, software, and firmware components could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, or in any combination of hardware and software. Accordingly, while the example systems described herein are described as being implemented in software executed on a processor of one or more computer devices, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the only way to implement such systems.

Thus, while the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A system of an industrial process plant, the system comprising: a process control system including: a field device disposed in a physical environment of the industrial process plant, the field device performing a physical function; an I/O switch communicatively disposed between the field device and a virtual node, the I/O switch being a subscriber to first data that is generated by the field device and that has been published, and the I/O switch being a publisher of second data indicative of the first data generated by the field device; and the virtual node, the virtual node being a subscriber to the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch, the virtual node including a component behavior module that operates on the second data corresponding to the field device to thereby generate a control signal to modify a behavior of another node of the process control system, and the virtual node disposed in a virtual environment of the industrial process plant, the field device, the virtual node, and the another node operating in conjunction during run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control an industrial process.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the virtual node is a publisher of third data indicative of the control signal; the indication of the third data is received by the another node; the I/O switch is a subscriber to the third data corresponding to the control signal generated by the virtual node; the I/O switch is a publisher of fourth data indicative of the third data corresponding to the control signal generated by the virtual node; and one of: an intervening node that is communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and the another node is a subscriber to the fourth data; or the another node is the subscriber to the fourth data, and the fourth data includes the indication of the third data.
 3. (canceled)
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein: the intervening node is the subscriber to the fourth data; the intervening node is an I/O hub device communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and a plurality of physical devices included in a physical environment of the industrial process plant, the plurality of physical devices including the field device; and the I/O hub device being a publisher of data respectively generated by each physical device of the plurality of physical devices.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual node is a first virtual node, and the another node is a second virtual node.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the another node is a physical node disposed in the industrial process plant.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual node is one of a virtual process controller or a virtual safety controller of the industrial process plant, and the component behavior module is a respective control module.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual node is included in a plurality of virtual nodes disposed within a virtual environment of the industrial process plant, the plurality of virtual nodes including at least one of: a virtual process controller, a virtual safety controller; a virtual safety logic solver; a virtual I/O card, device, or node; a virtual wireless device; a virtual Ethernet device; a virtual operator workstation; a virtual user interface device; a virtual tool; a virtual gateway; a virtual electronic marshalling cabinet or system; or a virtualization of another type of physical device or component disposed within a physical environment of the industrial process plant.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the component behavior module included in the virtual node is downloadable into a physical device that is represented by the virtual node and that is disposed within a physical environment of the industrial process plant.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein: the virtual node and the field device are included in a first control loop of the process control system; the process control system includes a plurality of control loops operating to control the industrial process during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant; each control loop of the plurality of control loops includes a respective field device disposed in the physical environment of the industrial process plant and at least one other process control device disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant; and each control loop of the plurality of control loops utilizes the I/O switch in lieu of any physical I/O device.
 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising an edge gateway system communicatively connected to one or more applications, each of the one or more applications being a respective consumer of a respective at least a portion of one or more types of data published by the I/O switch, the edge gateway system being a subscriber to the one or more types of data published by the I/O switch, and the edge gateway system including one or more security mechanisms utilized in delivering the one or more types of the data between the I/O switch and the one or more applications.
 12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an I/O hub device communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and the field device; and wherein the I/O hub device is a publisher of the first data generated by the field device.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein: the virtual node operating during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control the industrial process is a virtual run-time node that is included in a plurality of virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant; the plurality of virtual nodes includes one or more simulated nodes, the one or more simulated nodes excluding the virtual run-time node, and each simulated node of the one or more simulated nodes simulates at least a portion of a respective one or more physical devices or components that are deployable in the physical environment of the industrial process plant, the respective one or more physical devices or components including at least one of: a process controller; a safety controller; a safety logic solver; an I/O node, card, or device; a wireless device; an Ethernet device; an operator workstation; a user interface device; a tool; a gateway; an electronic marshalling cabinet; a network connection; or another type of physical device or component disposed within the physical environment of the industrial process plant; and the system further comprises a simulation system, the simulation system including the I/O switch and the one or more simulated nodes.
 14. (canceled)
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least the portion of the one or more respective physical devices or components simulated by the each simulated node includes a portion of a particular physical device or component, and the portion of the particular physical device or component includes at least one of: a module, a routine, a function or behavior, a MAC address, or a hardware sub-component of the particular physical device or component.
 16. (canceled)
 17. (canceled)
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein: a simulation run including a particular simulated node of the one or more simulated nodes includes communications between the particular simulated node and at least one of another virtual run-time node disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant or another physical node disposed in the physical environment of the industrial process plant; and the at least one of the another virtual run-time node or the another physical node is configured to operate during run-time operations of the industrial process plant.
 19. The system of claim 13, wherein the simulation system further includes a simulator access mechanism via which a simulator application provides and/or receives one or more simulated values that are utilized in a simulation run executed by the simulation system.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein at least one of: the simulator access mechanism is an Application Programming Interface (API); the simulator access mechanism interfaces with the I/O switch to provide and/or receive the one or more simulated values; or the simulator access mechanism is configured to communicate, via a standardized data or communication protocol, the one or more simulated values with the simulation system by utilizing respective identifications of the one or more simulated nodes that are stored in a configuration database of the industrial process plant.
 21. (canceled)
 22. (canceled)
 23. The system of claim 19, wherein the simulator access mechanism is configured to operate on one or more simulation commands to thereby at least one of: execute the simulation run at a run-time pace, speed up the simulation run to execute faster than the run-time pace, slow down the simulation run to execute slower than the run-time pace, set a simulated value of the simulation run, set an initial condition of the simulation run, pause the simulation run, set an intermediate condition of the simulation run, modify a pace of the execution of the simulation, or modify a simulated value associated with the simulation run.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein at least one of: the simulator access mechanism is further configured to operate on the one or more simulation commands to thereby at least one of: save or store data associated with at least a portion of the simulation run, retrieve a saved or stored at least a portion of the simulation run, save or store a configuration of the simulation run, or retrieve a saved or stored configuration of the simulation run; at least one simulation command to which the simulator access mechanism is responsive is provided via a user interface; or at least one simulation command to which the simulator access mechanism is responsive is provided via a third-party simulation application.
 25. (canceled)
 26. (canceled)
 27. The system of claim 19, wherein the simulator access mechanism maintains one or more states respectively associated with respective portions of the simulation run, and the one or more states correspond to at least one of: a state of a virtual component, a state of a physical component, a state of a simulated component, a state of a virtual device, a state of a physical device, a state of a simulated device, a state of a virtual module, a state of a physical module, a state of a simulated module, a state of a process that is being at least partially simulated by the simulation run, a state of the simulation run, or another type of state.
 28. (canceled)
 29. The system of claim 1, wherein: the virtual node operating during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control the industrial process is a virtual run-time node; and the system further comprises a virtualization management node that creates, configures, and administrates the virtual node and any other virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant based on a configuration of the process control system stored in a configuration database of the process control system.
 30. (canceled)
 31. The system of claim 29, wherein the virtualization management node further creates and configures the I/O switch.
 32. (canceled)
 33. The system of claim 29, wherein: the virtualization management node automatically updates the virtual node based on a change to the configuration of the process control system; and the change to the configuration of the process control system includes a change to at least one of: the configuration of the virtual node; the configuration of a first other virtual node related to the virtual node, the first other virtual node being a virtual run-time node; or a configuration of a physical node disposed in the physical environment of the industrial process plant and that is simulated by the virtual node.
 34. (canceled)
 35. (canceled)
 36. (canceled)
 37. The system of claim 29, wherein: the any other virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment includes a plurality of virtual nodes having one or more of: at least one other virtual run-time node or at least one simulated node; the virtualization management node administrates the plurality of virtual nodes responsive to one or more conditions of a physical computing platform that supports the virtual environment, the physical computing platform including one or more computing devices, and the one or more conditions of the physical computing platform occurring during run-time operations of the industrial process plant; and the administration of the plurality of virtual nodes by the virtualization management node responsive to the occurrence of the one or more conditions of the physical computing platform includes at least one of: a deletion of a virtual node included in the plurality of virtual nodes, a creation of another virtual node, an activation of a stand-by virtual node, a re-allocation of resources, storing a respective configuration of at least a portion of the virtual node, storing run-time data corresponding to the at least the portion of the virtual node, storing simulation data corresponding to the at least the portion of the virtual node, storing a state of the at least the portion of the virtual node, storing other data corresponding to the at least the portion of the virtual node, restoring the at least the portion of the virtual node from respective stored data, or another administrative action.
 38. (canceled)
 39. (canceled)
 40. (canceled)
 41. (canceled)
 42. (canceled)
 43. (canceled)
 44. (canceled)
 45. (canceled)
 46. The system of claim 29, wherein: the any other virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment includes a plurality of virtual nodes, the plurality of virtual nodes including a simulated node simulating a physical node disposed in the physical environment of the industrial process plant, the simulated node including a component behavior module; and the virtualization management node causes the component behavior module of the simulated node to be downloaded into the physical node.
 47. The system of claim 29, wherein the virtualization management node interfaces with one or more other applications on behalf of the virtual environment, and the one or more applications include at least one of: a user interface application, an application executing in an Information Technology (IT) layer associated with the industrial process plant, an application executing in an Operations Technology (OT) layer of the industrial process plant, an Internet of Things (IoT) application, an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) application, an application executing in a computing cloud, an application that is communicatively connected to the virtualization management node via one or more public networks, or a third-party application.
 48. (canceled)
 49. The system of claim 29, wherein at least a portion of the administration of the virtual node and of the any other virtual nodes disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant is automatically performed by the virtualization management node without any in-line user input.
 50. (canceled)
 51. (canceled)
 52. (canceled)
 53. A method of controlling a node of a process control system of an industrial process plant, the method comprising: communicatively connecting a field device and a virtual node via an I/O switch disposed between the field device and the virtual node so that the field device, the I/O switch, and the virtual node operate in conjunction during run-time operations of the industrial process plant to control an industrial process, the field device disposed in a physical environment of the industrial process plant and performing a physical function, the I/O switch being a subscriber to first data that is generated by the field device and that has been published, and the I/O switch being a publisher of second data indicative of the first data generated by the field device, and the virtual node disposed in a virtual environment of the industrial process plant, and the virtual node being a subscriber to the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch; and during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant: receiving, by the virtual node, the second data corresponding to the field device and published by the I/O switch; operating, by utilizing a component behavior module of the virtual node, on the second data, thereby generating a control signal based on the second data; and causing an indication of the control signal to be transmitted to a recipient node of the process control system, thereby modifying a behavior of the recipient node.
 54. The method of claim 53, wherein: causing the indication of the control signal to be transmitted to the recipient node includes publishing, by the virtual node, third data indicative of the control signal; the I/O switch is a subscriber to third data indicative of the control signal and is a publisher of fourth data indicative of the third data; and the recipient node or an intervening node that is communicatively disposed in between the I/O switch and the recipient node is a subscriber to the fourth data.
 55. The method of claim 54, wherein the intervening node is the subscriber to the fourth data, and the intervening node is an I/O hub device communicatively disposed between the I/O switch and a plurality of physical devices included in a physical environment of the industrial process plant, the plurality of physical devices including the field device, and the I/O hub device being a publisher of data respectively generated by each physical device of the plurality of physical devices.
 56. The method of claim 53, wherein causing an indication of the control signal to be transmitted to the recipient node of the process control system, thereby modifying the behavior of the recipient node includes: causing the indication of the control signal to be transmitted to another virtual node, the another virtual node being one of: a virtual process controller, a virtual safety controller; a virtual safety logic solver; a virtual I/O card, device, or node; a virtual wireless device; a virtual Ethernet device; a virtual operator workstation; a virtual user interface device; a virtual tool; a virtual gateway; a virtual electronic marshalling cabinet or system; or a virtualization of another type of physical device or component that is disposed within a physical environment of the industrial process plant, thereby modifying a run-time behavior of the another virtual node while the industrial process plant is operating in run-time to control the industrial process.
 57. The method of claim 53, wherein causing an indication of the control signal to be transmitted to the recipient node of the process control system, thereby modifying a behavior of the recipient node includes: causing the indication of the control signal to be transmitted to a physical node disposed in the industrial process plant, thereby modifying a run-time behavior of the physical node while the industrial process plant is operating in run-time to control the industrial process.
 58. The method of claim 53, wherein: the virtual node is a virtual run-time node; the method further comprises communicatively connecting one or more simulated nodes to the I/O switch, the one or more simulated nodes disposed in the virtual environment of the industrial process plant, and the one or more simulated nodes and the I/O switch included in a simulation system; and each simulated node of the one or more simulated nodes includes a respective component behavior module utilized to simulate at least a portion of one or more respective physical devices or components that are deployable in the physical environment of the industrial process plant, the one or more respective physical devices or components including at least one of: a process controller; a safety controller; a safety logic solver; an I/O node, card, or device; a wireless device; a Ethernet device; an operator workstation; a user interface device; a tool; a gateway; an electronic marshalling cabinet; a network connection; a MAC address; another type of physical device or component disposed within the physical environment of the industrial process plant; or a portion of a particular physical device or component disposed within the physical environment of the industrial process plant, the portion of the particular physical device or component including at least one of: a module, a routine, a function or behavior, a MAC address, or a hardware sub-component of the particular physical device or component.
 59. The method of claim 58, further comprising executing a simulation run including a particular simulated node, including: executing the respective component behavior module of the particular simulated node to generate data; and communicating, by the particular simulated node via the I/O switch, an indication of the data generated from the execution to at least one of the virtual run-time node, another virtual run-time node, another simulated node, or a physical node disposed in the physical environment of the industrial process plant, the at least one of the virtual run-time node, the another virtual run-time node, the another simulated node, or the physical node operating during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant.
 60. The method of claim 59, further comprising, subsequent to executing the simulation run including the particular simulated node, downloading the respective component behavior module of the particular simulated node into the one or more respective physical devices or components corresponding to the particular simulated node, thereby causing the one or more respective physical devices or components to operate, during the run-time operations of the industrial process plant, in accordance with the respective component behavior module.
 61. The method of claim 59, wherein the simulation system further includes a simulator access mechanism, and the method further comprises utilizing the simulator access mechanism to at least one of: provide and/or receive one or more simulated values utilized during the execution of the simulation run including the particular simulated node; or operate on one or more simulation commands to thereby at least one of: execute the simulation run at a run-time pace, speed up the simulation run to execute faster than the run-time pace, slow down the simulation run to execute slower than the run-time pace, set a simulated value of the simulation run, set an initial condition of the simulation run, pause the simulation run, set an intermediate condition of the simulation run, modify a pace of the execution of the simulation, modify a simulated value associated with the simulation run; save or store data associated with at least a portion of the simulation run, retrieve a saved or stored at least a portion of the simulation run, save or store a configuration of the simulation run, or retrieve a saved or stored configuration of the simulation run.
 62. The method of claim 61, wherein utilizing the simulator access mechanism comprises at least one of: utilizing the simulator access mechanism in response to at least one simulation command provided via a user interface, or utilizing the simulator access mechanism in response to at least one other simulation command provided via a third-party simulation application.
 63. The method of claim 61, further comprising maintaining, by the simulator access mechanism, one or more states respectively associated with respective portions of the execution of the simulation run, the one or more states corresponding to at least one of: a state of a virtual component, a state of a physical component, a state of a simulated component, a state of a virtual device, a state of a physical device, a state of a simulated device, a state of a virtual module, a state of a physical module, a state of a simulated module, a state of a process that is being at least partially simulated by the simulation run, a state of the simulation run, or another type of state.
 64. (canceled) 